


Assassin Spider

by Nexas_Hart



Series: Avenger's Creed Universe [1]
Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF May Parker (Spider-Man), BAMF Michelle Jones, BAMF Ned Leeds, BAMF Peter Parker, Minor Happy Hogan/May Parker (Spider-Man), Minor Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, No Bashing, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Not Spider-Man: Homecoming Compliant, Peter Parker has training, Peter says Fuck, Protective May Parker (Spider-Man), Protective Michelle Jones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:33:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 34,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24226654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nexas_Hart/pseuds/Nexas_Hart
Summary: The Assassin's Creed and Spider-man: Homecoming fanfic that exactly one person (me) asked for.
Relationships: Happy Hogan & May Parker (Spider-Man), Happy Hogan & Peter Parker, Happy Hogan/May Parker (Spider-Man), Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Rebecca Crane & Shaun Hastings
Series: Avenger's Creed Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748671
Comments: 16
Kudos: 172





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It'll be less Assassin's Creed and more Marvel in this, but I thought I'd give a multi-chapter fic a try.
> 
> Although I do lean more towards Team Iron Man than Team Captain America, this fic doesn't show my full thoughts on Tony Stark or the other Avengers. I won't be bashing either side too much, but I will point out things I see as flaws in the whole Civil War fiasco. Don't hate.

Chapter 1

“I think you should leave.”

Tony Stark, billionaire philanthropist, blinks in surprise.

“Mrs. Parker,” he puts on his most charming smile. “I’m sure you might be confused, but this grant is a very-.”

“You and I both know there is no grant,” the woman’s formerly calm features turn menacing. “Peter talked about the September Foundation a few days ago. He told me he didn’t apply for it because he wasn’t old enough. Now, you can leave my apartment before I call the police.”

“Mrs. Parker,” he holds up his hands, smile now a bit more pleading. “There’s no need-.”

Suddenly she’s holding a knife, pointed directly at the man. “Leave.”

She steps forward threateningly, and he suddenly blurts. “Your nephew is an enhanced vigilante!”

The knife-wielding woman pauses, before squinting in suspicion. She drops he arm, hand still holding the weapon. Stepping aside, she frowns. “Come in.”

Skirting around the knife, arms still up in surrender, Stark keeps himself facing the woman as he backs up into the house.

“Take off your watch and suit jacket, and empty your pockets,” Aunt May commands. “Slowly.”

Tony complies. He sets the items on the coffee table in front of him, his pockets still turned out. “You heard me, right? Your fourteen-year-old nephew is a crime fighting vigilante.”

“I know,” she shuts the door. “But how do you know, and why did you come here?”

“The how is simple. At least, it is for a man with a highly advance artificial intelligence who can analyze video footage and extrapolate behavior, body dimensions, vocals, patrol patterns, and a load of other minuscule pieces of information that it would probably take a team of normal geniuses at least a year or two to get close to finding,” he takes a breath. “As for the why, I’d prefer to go over that with the kid. I’d also like to do so without the knife.”

“Too bad,” she pulls out her phone and starts tapping away on it. “I’d rather be armed around one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes when comes to try to trick me into letting him see my nephew,” she motions to the love-seat in the living room. “Feel free to have a seat though. Just be warned, I’m fairly good at throwing these things; but I’m bad enough that I’ll have to aim for center of mass.”

“Consider me warned,” Iron Man sits down obediently.

*****

A knock at the door has the aunt, who would probably tie for third scariest woman Tony Stark has ever met, standing up and walking towards the door. She looks through the peep hole before smiling and letting whoever’s on the other side through.

“So,” a young and decidedly not male voice sounds. “Where’s the guy?”

“In the living room,” Mrs. Parker nods towards the billionaire. “He’s been very polite since I let him in.”

“I’m pretty polite to anyone who’s holding a weapon to me and not monologuing their evil plans,” Tony says without thinking.

Two people walk into the apartment. Correction, two teenagers walk into the apartment. The taller of the two is female; with dark, curly hair and dark skin. She’s got a glare to her that instantly puts her on Tony’s list of women that he would not want to make enemies with. The “EAT THE RICH” shirt she has on also does a lot to make sure he doesn’t piss her off while he is unarmed.

The second is a slightly heavyset boy with shorter dark hair. He might be Filipino, or at least have that ancestry. The look of awe as he glances back and forth between May Parker and the Avenger shows what’s probably an easily excitable personality.

“You held a knife to Iron Man,” he exhales. “Awesome.”

“Well,” Iron Man puts on his best smile. “Neither of you look like Peter Parker, so why don’t we introduce ourselves. You know who I am; Tony Stark, Iron Man, billionaire, former playboy, philanthropist.” He gestures to the two of them.

“Michelle,” the girl’s glare holds while she crosses her arms.

“N-Ned,” the boy stutters out.

“Good,” Stark nods. “Now, where is the Spiderling? Spider-Kid? Crime fighting spider?”

“Spider-man,” Ned corrects. “I-It’s Spider-man.”

Tony raises an eyebrow. “Really? Because that outfit doesn’t really scream ‘Man’. More like, kid leaving a sleepover/costume party to go catch a purse snatcher.”

“You know,” Michelle cuts in. “Not all of us have billions of dollars to waste on a weaponize tin can. Now, why are you here?”

“I’d rather wait until our resident wall-crawler is here before I explain.”

“And I’d like the free undiscriminating distribution of utilities, healthcare, and education,” the girl snarks back. “And we’re more likely to get that than we are for me to allow someone who just signed a paper allowing for government approved tagging of a specific group of people anywhere near one of my friends before I know why he’s come here.”

“Ah,” said signatory sighs. “You’ve read the Accords, I see.”

“Of course,” she snorts. “Enhanced registration, indefinite imprisonment without trial, detaining if an unspecified and unelected group of government officials deems someone’s abilities ‘threatening’. Tell me, what even constitutes ‘Base-line’ humans? That document is a mess of corruption and government control.”

“And now you’re sounding like a certain star-spangled pain in my ass,” he groans before standing up and getting his things. “So, I’m probably just wasting my time here.”

“Stop,” the girl steps in front of him before he can leave. “I know you’re not here to register Peter, or lock him up, which is why you’re still breathing. Now, I’m not letting you leave before you give us some answers.”

“Kid,” he pinches his nose. “I’m on a clock here.”

“Then talk fast,” she stands firm.

He takes a moment to meet her eyes before realizing she’s not going to budge. Based upon the reactions of two out of the three people present, he wouldn’t be able to charm or pay his way out of this. He might be able to fight his way out, but he couldn’t risk the bad press with everything going on. Plus, he doesn’t really feel up to going toe to toe with three civilians, no matter how many knives they have. It wouldn’t sit well with his conscience.

“Fine,” he caves. “I’ve got a little under two days to apprehend half of my team who seems to think siding with an international killer and UN bomber is okay just because he’s not entirely there in the head and Captain America used to be his buddy.”

“And what does Peter have to do with any of this?”

“Cap’s coming at me with more than half of the Avengers, and probably one or two extras, so I need the numbers. His powers can help him hold his own against them, and that webbing of his can subdue them without too much damage.”

“Not that I don’t think Spider-man fighting against the Avengers would be one of the coolest things ever,” Ned gushes. “But can’t you just get a whole bunch of special forces or something to help you out. Isn’t that the point of the Accords?”

“That’s what’ll happen if I don’t get them back within the time limit,” the man tells the boy. “But they won’t be as nice as I’m trying to be.” Ned’s eyes widen at the implication.

“Alright,” MJ concedes. “But how do I know you won’t just lock up Peter once you’re done with him? Just him existing without a GPS strapped to him is a violation of the Accords. Let alone what would happen if he tried to help you out. I’d assume that he’d be going to Europe without approval from your little Council, which means he would be breaking the regulation about crime fighting outside of his country of residence.”

“As far as me locking him up, I can’t really give you anything other than my word. Not much, I know,” he sits back down. “As for the government, I can keep them from pursuing the kid’s identity until they get their heads out of their asses and start amending the document.”

“For someone who wants us to trust him,” May steps forward. “You seem pretty eager to go against something you just signed.”

He sighs. “That’s because I pretty much agree with everything this little girl said. If you think for a minute that I want the man who hunted down one of my friends to be breathing down my neck, you’ve got another thing coming.”

“Then why sign?” The aunt frowns in confusion. “You’re a business man, or you kind of used to be. If you don’t like a document, why not wait until the amendments are made before signing?”

A flicker of understanding shines through MJ’s eyes. “You’re trying to change things from the inside.”

“Bingo,” he points at the girl. “This isn’t some legal contract, where not signing means it doesn’t apply to you. Me signing gives me a seat at the table. I can at least try to change things.”

“It’s easier to change a law before it goes into practice,” the girl tells him.

“Would’ve had to know about it in order to change it,” he snipes back.

“The Avengers didn’t know,” Ned says slowly. “The Avengers didn’t know about a document that would regulate the Avengers.”

“You know that guy I was talking about that hunted down my best friend,” Tony snorts. “Mr. Secretary of State, Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross. Pretty sure he was keeping the discussions out of the public press in the United States. We probably would’ve gotten more of a warning if the whole Lagos incident hadn’t happened and panicking politicians rushed the Accords forward. Be that as it may, I got five days to read it, while the rest of the team got three. I’m surprised Miss Tall, Dark, and Angry hear has heard of it, let alone read it.”

“I keep up on international news,” she glowers at him. “Legislation about enhanced individuals affects my friend, and the Accords became public domain as soon as they were drafted. Even if they weren’t found on a public forum, I still managed to get me a copy.”

“You’re different than most other teenagers, aren’t you?” Stark smirks at the girl.

“I’ve been told as much,” she nods. “But so far you’ve only given me proof that you’re not as much of a conceited prick as the tabloids paint you to be. You haven’t sold me on letting one of my best friends go fight a battle against a bunch of trained enhanced for something that, currently, he wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole, let alone a pen. Like May said you’re a business man, in the barest sense. So, sell it.”

“Okay, you want me to sell it to you,” the billionaire’s smirk leaves his face. “We are currently an unregulated, unchecked, and private task-force with no clear purpose or goals other than to go wherever we want and pick and choose what we stop based upon personal feelings. We need to be kept in check, and we need some kind of system and set of rules to make sure we don’t do more harm than good when we try to help people. I need Spider-man to come with me so that I can stop my teammates from making it more difficult to get these rules to a point where they aren’t a watered-down version of the Nazi manifesto.”

There’s silence in the room for a few seconds, until MJ turns around and speaks. “You get all that, loser?”

A door behind her opens up, and out steps the boy he’s spent the past hour trying to get in contact with.

“Yeah,” he sighs, lips pursed in thought.

“So?” She raises an eyebrow questioningly.

He looks over at his aunt, and she smiles gently. “Like I said when you started this, I’ll support whatever decision. You can go with him, or I can kick him back out onto the street with a couple of stabs from a knife.”

“I’d prefer for that to be done without the stabbing, thanks,” Stark raises his hand.

At this, Peter looks at the man and takes a deep breath. “Okay, I have a few more questions.”

“Luckily for you, I happen to have a few answers.”

He sits down on the couch, and the rest of them join him in sitting down. May and MJ on either side, while Ned pulls up a chair.  
“Okay,” Peter breathes out again. “First, will I be able to keep my secret identity?”

“Yes,” Tony confirms. “That’s been the plan this entire time. I figured you’d be pretty set on that, what with the mask and all. The only people who would know about you would be me and my Head of Security. His name is Happy.”

“I can take that,” the boy nods. “Next, where exactly are we going?”

“Germany. We’ve figured out that they’re heading for an airport to snag a jet to take them wherever they’re going.”

“Speaking of ‘they’, who exactly from the Avengers will we be fighting?”

“At least Cap and Wilson, the Falcon. Clint Barton, Hawkeye, just took Maximoff from the Compound; so, they’ll probably be there, too.” He sighs. “Of course, the Winter Soldier will be there, too. I doubt the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan will let his old war buddy out of his sight.”

At this point, Peter’s more than tense. He has to take a few breaths to calm himself while May rubs his back absentmindedly.

“I’ll go,” he nods. “But I want my friends to be there, too.”

“Kid. This isn’t a field trip. We’re going to be fighting against half of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.”

“They won’t be in combat,” Peter goes wide eyed, waving his hands in front of him in denial. “They’ll just be like they are here. I usually have a com in my ear when I’m in my suit. They feed me ideas or information to help me when I’m patrolling. They won’t be in any actual danger, but they really help me when I’m out there.”

“We’re his guys in the chair,” Ned says smugly.

“Fine,” the Avenger waves the boy off. “Get their parents to agree to a sudden trip out of town, maybe some sort of Stark Industries student retreat, and I’ll let them come along.”

“My mom already knows about this whole Spider-man thing,” Ned announces. “She’ll probably say yes if I can make sure she knows I’m not actually going to be fighting. I’ll probably have to pack a bag, though. How long until we leave?”

“Three hours at the latest,” the man tells him. “We are on a tight schedule.”

“Okay,” Ned is basically buzzing with excitement. “I’ll call her while I’m on the way. She’ll have a suit case and most of the clothes I’ll need packed.”

With that, he slings backpack over his shoulder and rushes out the door. Tony turns to MJ.

“And you, young lady?”

“I just need to tell my guardians that I’m going somewhere with Peter and that it’s Spider-man related. They’ll call May, she’ll confirm it, and I’ll grab the bag I have packed in her room. Now, I’m going to go make that call, and then I’m going to grill you on the amendments you’re planning on making to the Accords until Ned gets back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No set update schedule. Will work on it between school and work. Enjoy, comment, and don't be mean. I enjoy feedback as long you're not a jerk about it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The airport fight with a coordinated and experienced Team Spider-man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter's longer than the first, but let me know how you like it.

Chapter 2

“Who are you texting?”

MJ looks up from her phone. “Stark.”

Ned’s eyes widen. “He gave you his number?”

“And his email,” she quips. “Told me he appreciates my input on the Accords and my ‘ability to take absolutely no bullshit from others.’ Said to contact him if I had any ideas. He never specified on what, so I’m giving him my take on how he can extend his billions to more teens and young adults that don’t have his resources and might be missed when he extends the September Grant out to more colleges.”

“Can I have it?” He begs.

“No,” she shakes her head. “He said he’d change his number if I gave it away to anyone, even the two of you, unless it was an emergency; and as much as I would like to frustrate him, this is probably best contact I have to get into the ears of the one-percent. I’m not going to waste it.”

The three members of team Spider-man are currently flying over the Atlantic with Happy sitting as far away from them as possible. He claims it’s because sitting near Ned and Peter as they nerd out about the high tech and fancy private plane is exhausting, but both of them also think he’s a little afraid of the girl who poked holes in his various security protocols for Stark Tower while riding shotgun on the car ride up.

As for the three teens in question. MJ’s going back and forth between her laptop and phone, typing one of four different articles and projects and using the planes wi-fi to send them to various news outlets. Her sketchbook is also sitting in the seat next to her, which she is planning on using to sketch Mr. Hogan when he falls asleep. From what she can tell, it should be any minute now; and he’s probably a snorer.

Ned is being his usual energetic self, checking out every part of the plane from the snack bar to the cockpit. He takes notes on his own laptop about guesses for the tech used and questions for Tony Stark when he sees him again. He also gushes a bit with Peter and watches a few sci-fi movies with him.

Peter, for his part, is a little more subdued, but that’s to be expected. After learning about his parent’s plane crash, Happy actually took a bit of pity on the kid and handed him a large metal briefcase. When both he and Ned both stop freaking out over the new suit, he tries it on quickly.

“Great,” MJ snarks. “You’ve upgraded from sweats to spandex.”

The garners a snort from Happy and a squeak of indignation from the webslinger.

“Dude,” Ned breathes out in awe as Peter slips on the mask. “How is it?”

“Awesome,” Peter responds in just as much awe. “It’s so high tech and intuitive. The eyes seem to know exactly how much sensory input I need, it fits perfectly, and I’ve even got a HUD in the mask.”

“No way. There’s tech? Can I plug my laptop in?”

“Ah,” Happy cuts into the conversation. “No messing with the suit. I wasn’t even supposed to let you know about it until you got to the hotel, but I will take it back if you try anything.”

The computer nerd deflates a bit at that, but there’s still open excitement on his face.

“It’s still really cool,” Peter says. “Let’s get out of it so I don’t mess it up before the big event.”

***

“Alright,” Ned calls through the coms. “I’ve got a visual.”

Four different laptops display the various security feeds around the airport and from Peter’s mask. MJ and Ned are sitting in front of them, Ned manning the key boards and MJ looking over his shoulder. Despite her writing abilities, Ned still has MJ beat at words per minute when typing.

“You really like saying that, don’t you?” Peter says from his end.

“It’s an awesome line,” Ned argues.

“Boys,” MJ cuts into the conversation. “Let’s focus. We’ve got a job to do.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ned salutes. “I’ve got eyes on Captain America.”

“And I’ve spotted Barnes and Wilson,” MJ points to another camera. “They’re in the terminal,” she points to another camera. “Maximoff and Barton are in the parking deck. Peter, tell Stark.”

“Alright,” he relays the information.

“Get to the terminal, kid,” Tony calls back. “Stay out of sight unless things end up going south, but be ready for anything. Your Pantherness, be ready to join him if something happens.”

“Understood,” the man almost growls.

“Got it,” Spider-man says before jumping off of his perch.

“Nat,” Stark calls through the coms. “Do you think you can talk Clint and Wanda down?”

“Probably not,” she responds. “He’s very protective of his kids, and we did kind of lock the girl in her room, no matter how good the intentions were.”

“Fine,” he sighs. “Think you can sneak up on them?”

“Not in the time we have.”

“Then let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Back behind the computer screens, Ned leans in and points at a particular view of the hanger bays. “MJ, that’s a drone.”

“What?” She leans in, peering at the tiny offending object. “Are you sure it’s not a bird?”

“It’s too stream line, hasn’t flapped its wings once, and it hovers in place for a moment right here,” he rewinds the tape slightly. “There’s not enough wind in the area for a bird to do that.”

“Peter’s trying to be stealthy, so,” she pulls out her phone and taps it a couple of times before putting to her ear. “Hey Stark. Do you happen to know if any of the people we’re fighting use drones?... Because there’s one flying around the hanger bay that happens to have the quinjet in it… Okay, Wilson does, but you built it right? Do you think you could get us the access codes to it?... Yes, I know I am. Send them to my phone.” She hangs up. Not even ten seconds later, her phone buzzes. She checks it and hands it over to Ned. “Type them in, but don’t access the drone until after the fighting starts.”

“Who was that, Tony?” MJ hears Romanoff over the coms.

“Tech support,” he replies. “Our other spider brought a couple of people to help behind the scenes. Not much for fighting, but hey, you’ve just seen how useful they can be.”  
She squints in suspicion, but doesn’t say anything else.

A few minutes, and one poor attempt by both leaders at a conversation later, Iron Man contacts them.

“Alright, Team Underoos. Take’em down.”

“Ned,” MJ orders. “Take the drone. Peter, ground the flyer first, separate the two of them and rip his thrusters out if you can.”

“On it, boss.”

The spiderling swings off the roof and breaks through one of the windows. Flicking out two streams of webbing on either side of them, he slingshots himself into the Winter Soldier, using both feet to kick him to the other side of the terminal. He uses the man as footing to launch himself back at the Falcon, body slamming into the man and taking them both to the ground.

For the winged Avenger’s part, he recovers quickly. He manages to get both legs between the two of them and kicks Peter off of him. With a huff of wind, the boy is sent reeling back into a charging Winter Soldier. The webslinger manages to turn in time to catch a punch from the man’s bionic arm.

“Woah,” his eye lenses widen. “Gotta admit, the metal arm is a lot cooler up close.”

He then proceeds to web the man’s feet to the ground before doing a back-flip to dodge the attack coming from behind him. Landing on the ground, he webs the back of Wilson’s wing-suit and pulls him within arm’s reach. The Falcon turns around and throws another punch, but it’s ducked. Spider-man sidesteps and pulls the man off balance. Stumbling forward, Sam’s back is now exposed as Peter grabs onto the vents on the back of the suit and exerts himself as he tears the back open, bringing several wires and a circuit board with it.

“Oh, come on,” Sam groans before turning around. “That’s expensive.”

“It’s not like you paid for it,” Peter snorts.

“That doesn’t mean I like it breaking.”

He has to duck another blow from Bucky, who’s cut himself out of the webbing, before he can say anything back. Then, a kick comes from Sam. After that, it’s all Peter can do to dodge the attacks coming from the two experienced fighters.

“Peter,” MJ sounds in his ear.

“Kind of busy right now,” he grunts as he blocks a knee from Barnes.

“Just get out of there,” she tells him. “This isn’t a training exercise. You don’t need to fight them close quarters.”

“Oh, right,” he jumps from in between them before shooting a web to the roof.

He looks down at them, and meet their eyes. Then, his enhanced hearing zeroes in on the slight static feedback of a slightly damaged earpiece.

“Sam,” he can hear a voice coming from the Falcon’s ear. “Status?”

The man in question taps his earpiece. “We ran into a little hiccup.”

“What sort of hiccup?” The guy on the other end sounds a little panicked.

“Stark brought a friend,” Sam sighed. “And he took out my wings.”

“And the hanger?”

“Didn’t get a visual before the guy popped in. Can’t get in contact with Redwing either, so he’s probably down, too.”

“Hey Spidey,” Stark calls Peter over his coms. “Cap seems upset about something, that you?”

“Yeah,” he answers. “I kind of grounded the Falcon. You’ll need to replace his wings when this is over. Also, they were using the drone to look for the quinjet.”

“Alright. Thanks, kid.”

“Hey, Spidey,” he hears MJ’s voice in his ear. “Ask Stark how attached he is to his quinjet.”

“Hey, Mr. Stark,” he talks. “Our friends behind the computer screens are wondering how attached you are to the quinjet?”

“It’d be a pain to replace, but I haven’t named it yet. Why?”

Before he can say anything, he hears Ned in his ear. “Guys, Hawkeye found the quinjet.”

Sure enough, he hears a voice coming from Falcon’s earpiece. “Hanger Five. The jet is in Hanger Five.”

“Spider-man,” MJ’s voice comes from his ear. “They need the quinjet, we don’t. Get there and make sure it can’t get off the ground.”

“But, the Winter Soldier-.”

“Peter,” he can hear the scowl in her voice. “Focus on your current mission. Stop them from leaving, and then subdue them.”

“Right,” he thwips a web to the ceiling above the broken window. “Mr. Stark. Hawkeye found the jet; I’m going to make sure it doesn’t get off the ground. I hope it’s insured.”

“This your friend’s idea?” The man calls back.

“Who else would be willing to destroy a billionaire’s toys?”

“Alright, head over. Just be careful, I’d rather not be responsible for any injuries. I know at least two people who would kill me for that.”

“Bet your ass we would,” MJ grumbles.

Peter starts to swing over to the window, when he senses something coming at him. He instinctively pulls up, just barely avoiding a sign that flies right past his head. He looks down to see the Winter Soldier glaring back up.

“Okay,” the wallcrawler huffs. “Rude. What if that hit someone?”

That’s when the Falcon pulls the guns out of his holsters, and Peter decides it is definitely time to leave. A superpowered leap, and he’s out the window. He shoots out another web, swinging to the ground and landing in a roll. Running towards the hanger at an enhanced speed, he barely reacts in time to dodge a giant metal disk flying directly at him. He turns in time to see Captain America himself as his shield comes back to his hand.

“That thing does not obey the laws of physics at all,” Spider-man points out.

“Look kid,” the war hero stands in front of him. “There’s a lot of going on here that you don’t understand.”

“You know, Mr. Stark sai-,” Peter slings out two webs in the middle of his sentence.

He webs the soldier’s foot to the ground before taking his shield out of his hands. He lands on top of a loading bridge and sets the item onto the wall, webbing it in place. Captain America just manages to get his foot free when he’s launched by a double kick from a swinging spider. Following up on his advantage, Spider-man charges toward the stunned superhero.

He’s just about to deliver another punch when something just appears in front of him, and he has to dodge a sudden uppercut. The blow still manages to clip his chin, causing him to stumble backwards a few more steps. The thing in question is actually a person, dressed in a red suit and metal helmet.

“Dude, dude, dude,” he hears his best friend fanboying in his ear. “That’s Ant-man.”

“Who?” Peter questions, keeping his eyes on the man as he helps Rogers up.

“Hero that became known a little after World War II,” MJ explains. “Has tech that allows him to shrink and grow things at will. Was a researcher named Hank Pym back then, but I’m going to guess that isn’t this guy.”

“Woah,” Ned’s awe shows in his voice. “I’d been specifically looking up superheroes in the SHIELD dump, but how’d you know that?”

“I was looking for underrated female figures for the report we did last year. His wife went MIA during a mission to stop a high-jacked weapon of mass destruction. Her code name was the Wasp.”

It’s at this time that the two relics of the nineteen-hundreds decide it’s better to team up against the newer generation. They charge, but it’s also at that time that Peter remembers what he came out of the terminal for. He jumps back up onto the loading bridge and sees Falcon and the Winter Soldier running towards the hangers.

“Shit,” he hisses. He starts running before slinging a web and jumping off of the bridge.

With one long swing, he lands and starts running. Surprisingly, he’s catching up with them. The problem is, he’s not going to make it in time.

“Mr. Stark,” he huffs as he sprints. “They’ve almost reached the hanger. I could use a little help.”

“Rhodes, I’m headed over, see if you can stall Wanda until Vision gets here,” the boy hears in his ear. “T’Challa, get some of the stragglers off of Spider-man’s back. Nat, you good?”

“Got slammed pretty hard. Might need a checkup after this,” she groans. “But I can at least stall Clint a bit longer.”

“Kid,” Stark calls. “Focus on the jet. Join the fight when you- Shit!”

Peter turns his head to see a giant Ant-man swinging at Iron-man.

“Peter!” MJ shouts. “Gawk later!”

Her reprimand snaps him out enough to get him to turn and start running again. He gets a few more steps before he has to dodge an incoming bullet. Falcon is standing ahead of him, pistols in hand. He has to keep dodging as the man unloads his magazines at the wallcrawler. It doesn’t take long, however, for the shooter to have to reload. With the opportunity presenting itself, Spider-man charges, knocking the weapons out of his hands. He thinks it’s going to end up in another punching match when he’s surprised again. Wilson tackles the kid, putting him in a bear hug and lifting him off the ground. The couple of seconds he struggles to break free is enough for him to see Captain America rush by him. Over the sounds of battle, he can hear the quinjet, powered up, flying out of the hanger. The captain jumps on as it starts gaining elevation.

“No, no, no, no, no,” Peter pants as he runs at the jet.

He thwips out webs from each of his wrists. They stick on both of the wings of the quinjet, and he sticks his feet to the ground below him. It causes a few seconds of pause before a sudden increase in power from the jet and the loose gravel on the asphalt causes Peter to unstick. Now hanging by his webs, he looks forward and hits a building that they fly over. The impact breaks one of his web shooters, releasing his connection to one of the lines. He’s dragged up along the wall before he gets his feet under him close to the top. Now, with both hands gripping onto the single strand of web, he plants his feet on the wall and starts pulling back.

“You’re,” he grunts. “Not. Going. Anywhere!”

His arms are burning, legs shaking, and his back feels like what he guesses an old man would after lifting a couch; but he keeps pulling, stopping the jet from getting any further away. He hears groaning, and thinks it’s coming from the building, before realizing it’s coming from his mouth. The pain is almost unbearable, his arms feel like they’re about to tear out before all that weight suddenly disappears. He reels back, unsticking and falling off of the building. Another second, and he’s caught by a pair of metal hands.

“Are my arms still attached?” He moans to Tony Stark.

“Yeah,” the man of iron sighs. “But I’m not sure about your brain. What were you thinking, kid?”

“They couldn’t get away,” he mumbles. “Have super strength.”

“Yeah. Well, you’re done fighting now.”

“Nooooo,” Peter whines. “I can keep going.”

“Fights over, kid. Rhodey’s going after the quinjet, but everyone else is down for the count.”

He flops his head over to see the carnage. The airport is destroyed. A few planes in pieces. Cars piled up or in a smoking wreck. The people Peter was fighting have all been apprehended. Vision’s holding Wanda Maximoff, while the panther person has Sam Wilson on the ground. He can see a normal sized Ant-man lying on the ground, and he hopes the guy is okay. Black Widow has Hawkeye pinned, and he thinks he can see a small red drone lying next to them.

He smirks. “Ned, what’s with the drone?”

“It had some minor weapon systems,” the boy replies smugly. “I used it to help out the Black Widow a bit.”

“Peter,” MJ cuts in. “If you ever do anything like that again, I will make the three days after the spider bite feel like a stuffy nose.”

“Got it, Em,” Peter chuckles.

“And I’m showing May the video footage,” she tells him.

“Please don’t,” he begs.

“Nope,” she refuses. “It’s happening.”

“Dude,” Ned chuckles. “You are so grounded.”

“Neeed,” the hero whines some more. “You’re not helping.”

“C’mon, kid,” Tony chuckles. “Let’s get you a quick check up on your injuries and get you and your friends back to the hotel.”

“Kay,” Peter sighs.

With all of the excitement, distractions, and adrenaline finally out of his system; Peter’s entire body seemed to collapse into Mr. Stark’s suit. He could still feel and move them, but his arms feel like lead weights would’ve before his enhancements. He should probably feel more pain. Not just in his arms, but he was also hit a few times by the Winter Soldier during their little fight. There’s probably a bit of shock that has to do with that. He decides he should probably get a least a little bit of sleep before he feels anything again.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment your thoughts on the fight. Please don't be too critical.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plane ride back.

Chapter 3

The plane ride back has Ned fanboying over the recorded footage, MJ going over the footage a little calmer, and Peter watching what he missed during the fight while both of his arms are in slings. Without Happy, there’s nothing stopping the three of them from goofing off, but they’re all too exhausted from yesterday’s activities to do anything.

War Machine couldn’t catch up with the quinjet, but the rest of them are now in custody. MJ spends about fifteen minutes explaining how unethical the Raft is, and how lucky Secretary Ross is that she wasn’t able to get near him. Ned tells him about how he used the drone to distract Hawkeye enough to let Black Widow get closer. The two boys have a small fanboying session about how The Black Widow told the downed drone “Thank you, tech support.”

“Dude,” Ned looks at his best friend. “Not that you didn’t do great and everything, but you kind of look like you lost the fight.”

“Your face does look a little bit like the paint pallet for ‘Starry Night,’” MJ points out. “A bunch of black and blue, with a few lighter splotches.”

“Thought your healing factor was supposed to work over-time when you were asleep,” Ned comments.

“Haven’t been able to sleep since my little bout of unconsciousness after the fight,” Peter groans as he leans back in his chair.

“Peter…” MJ sighs.

“I know. I know. I just can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t know how I could stay calm during that whole thing. _He _was right there, Em,” Peter almost sobs, the emotions he’s been suppressing breaking through a bit. “He was right there, and I let him get away. I just keep going over the fight in my head. Over and over again, and I don’t know what I could have done to stop it from happening. Should I have webbed them up before heading to the jet? Did I take too long fighting Captain America? What could I have done to stop them?”__

__“Peter…” her voice softens slightly. “Look, maybe there was something you could have done differently, but we can go over that later. Right now, you need to rest and heal.”_ _

__“But-.”_ _

__“No buts,” her voice goes back to its stern tone. “Unless it’s yours leaning back in that fancy, overly expensive recliner on this stupid billionaire’s plane. Speaking of which, I have words for him and that red, white, and blue asshole when I see them again. Now, however, we need to get as much of those injuries healed as possible before your aunt sees you and has a conniption.”_ _

__That’s a big motivator that has Peter letting her slip his headphones over his ears, turning on some peaceful background music, and trying to drift off._ _

__***_ _

__Like he always has after a night of healing, Peter wakes up starving. Drawback of an enhanced metabolism. Also, like always, Ned and MJ have an assortment of food placed in front of him from the plane’s fridge and snack bar. Part of what’s great about having friends like them._ _

__He tests his left arm, it’s good enough to take out of the sling. The doctors said it would take a few days at the rate he was healing, but they also didn’t know about healing factor going ham on his wounds when he’s sleeping. His right arm is still being annoying, but that’s what happens when it gets slammed into a building at the speed of an accelerating jet. Speaking of which, he’s been promised by Mr. Stark that the damaged suit will be returned good as new as soon as he can get around to it. MJ translated that to about a month or two. Ned was upset about missing out of cracking into the tech on the suit. Peter did get a good look at the web shooters, though, so they’ll make a few improvements on his own._ _

__“How long was I out?” Peter asks._ _

__“A few hours,” MJ answers._ _

__“It’s always pretty cool watching the bruises on your face fade,” Ned crunches on some M &Ms. “They just start getting lighter and shrinking.”_ _

__“Still have a bit of a shiner, though,” MJ snorts. “May’s going to love that, and you’ll probably be in that sling for at least another day or two.”_ _

__“Thank god we have the rest of the week off from school,” Peter sighs. “I don’t think we’d be able to explain how I got these injuries at a ‘Stark Industries sponsored business and science retreat’.”_ _

__“That would be difficult,” Ned nods in agreement. “But could you imagine what would happen if we told them how you got them? I mean, you slammed into a building trying to stop an escaping quinjet after having a no hold barred fight against half of the Avengers.”_ _

__“There were some holds barred,” Peter tells him. “I could’ve punched the Falcon into a wall, but I didn’t want to hurt him too badly. Plus, they didn’t go for the kill with any of their punches. Falcon only started using his guns after he got desperate and ran out of other moves. I think he was also a little upset that you took his drone. He seemed a little attached to it.”_ _

__Ned winces. “Do you think he’ll be upset that I crashed it?”_ _

__“Technically, Hawkeye shot it down,” Peter points out._ _

__“Do you think he’ll see it like that?” MJ adds._ _

__Both of the guys wince at that. Peter looks at his friend with a bit of pity. “Maybe we should keep that on the down-low until you get to know each other a bit better.”_ _

__Ned brightens at this. “Do you really think we’ll see them again?”_ _

__“Maybe,” Peter shrugs. “Eventually. We did a good job, and it’s not like they’ll be kept in those cells forever.”_ _

__MJ sighs. “Do you not know what the definition of ‘indefinite confinement’ is?”_ _

__“But Mr. Stark said he was planning on amending the Accords,” Peter points out. “And you spent almost two hours talking about it.”_ _

__“But that could be months, or even years from now,” MJ counters. “We talked about so many other things that needed to be changed before that, mostly to make sure you don’t get locked up after Stark loses the ability to hide you from the government.”_ _

__“She’s got a point,” Ned comes into the conversation. “We even scrubbed the footage of the airport battle to make sure they didn’t have any evidence of you being out of the country. If anyone asks, Iron-man shut the cameras down before the fight so that the other Avengers couldn’t hack in and find the quinjet sooner. He’s in on it, so it’s fine.”_ _

__“First, I’d like to point out how amazing the two of you are,” Peter smiles. “But I also know that it’ll take time, but these things have to be fixed. People act recklessly when they’re afraid or angry or sad, but I’m sure that enough of them will realize that things need changing.”_ _

__“But so many others are just in this for the power and control,” MJ narrows her eyes at him. “And they don’t care who they step on to get it.”_ _

__“Then they’ll have to try to out maneuver Iron-man,” Peter smiles. “And the Black Widow. That’ll be a challenge in and of itself.”_ _

__She rolls her eyes at that, but there’s still a smirk on her face. Her lack of verbal response means that Peter’s probably won this round._ _

__“What’s going to happen to the two that got away?” Ned questions. “You know, the Winter Soldier and Captain America. Weren’t they the two that this whole fight was about?”_ _

__“Stark and the Black Widow are going to the Raft to see if they can get some information on them from the others,” MJ tells him. “The two war buddies are probably going after those other super soldiers, like they said before the fighting started.”_ _

__“I was listening to that,” Peter frowns. “I mean they both didn’t do a very good job at seeing the others point of view.”_ _

__“Glad I wasn’t the only one who saw that,” MJ sighs. “There’s obviously a lot of previous tension between the two of them, but they should’ve acted a bit more like adults during that whole thing. Stark could’ve done a lot better at listening to what Rogers was saying. I mean, I’m pretty sure that a group of highly trained and mentally unstable super-soldiers should set priority over pretty much anything else. Most government officials would understand that, and it could have gone a long way in showing how terrible the Accords are set up for fast action. On the other hand, you can tell that Rogers had no intention of negotiating. ‘My way or the highway’ is not a valid thought process if you’re talking about freedom and safety for a large group of diverse individuals. You need to know when you should stand firm, and when you need to sacrifice familiar ground to negotiate better terms. Stark might be an uncommunicative narcissist, but I can see a lot of the same in Rogers.”_ _

__“And you quit debate team, why?” Peter blinks in shock._ _

__“Because I needed more time for training and keeping you from getting arrested for vigilantism,” she shrugs. “And Decathlon makes me look more academically rounded on a college application.”_ _

__“Speaking of which,” Ned joins the conversation again. “Do you think Mr. Stark will give us some letters of recommendation for MIT? I mean, we did kind of help him out with this whole thing.”_ _

__“Don’t you think it would be better to get in on our own?” Peter argues._ _

__“It doesn’t hurt to ask, right?” Ned shrugs. “And with acceptance rates these days, we could use every advantage we can get, and it is his alma mater. Plus, how cool would it be to get Iron-man’s seal of approval.”_ _

__“He’s not wrong,” MJ points out. “He’s a billionaire, so he could even pay our tuition with less than what he spends in a day. I’d recommend waiting a bit before asking, though. Adding something like that onto all of this would probably just annoy him. Besides, with how much that suit he made for you probably costs, he’ll at least be willing to sign three quick letters for us.”_ _

__“I thought you weren’t going to MIT,” Peter looks at her, confused._ _

__“Tony Stark’s recommendation means something to ninety nine percent of universities in the world.”_ _

__“Point,” Peter nods. “But I’d like to at least know that I got in because of my merits, not just because I double as an enhanced vigilante.”_ _

__“I get that,” MJ smiles. Ned nods along with her. “Like I said, if we do ask, it won’t be for a while. Maybe you can find some way to prove to him and yourself that you deserve that letter. Besides, there’s still a lot more going on in our lives than just Spider-man and college. We can at least wait until junior year to think about this stuff too much.”_ _

__“Alright,” Ned claps his hands together. “We’ve only got about an hour until the plane gets back to New York, can we please talk about the fight a bit more. I know May won’t want to hear about it, and I was there with the footage, but that’s different from experiencing things first hand. How did it feel to take down the Falcon? What was Captain America’s shield like? Was it light? Heavy? I mean, you fought the Avengers. Spill.”_ _

__Peter smiles at his best friend’s excitement. Then, he joins in the enthusiasm with another, more detailed, rendition of his fight at the airport.  
_ _


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing says coming down from an exciting week of webslinging than being forced into the boring monotony of the educational system.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter. Thought you deserved another one after the slower one before. This one still isn't very exciting, but they can't all be intense fight scenes.

Chapter 4

The bell rings, signaling the start of the school day. Peter winces slightly at the noise, but it’s something that he’s grown used to. The part time vigilante is sitting in homeroom, writing down his math homework in his notebook. He doesn’t hate math, but it takes too much time. He can do all of the equations in his head, but his teachers want him to show his work. He’d finished the English and History work he’d missed over the weekend. He managed to convince May to lighten his grounding enough to let MJ and Ned over to work together on their makeup work.

“No superhero talk,” she warned. “One word about the Avengers or vigilantes that isn’t a part of your work, and they are out.”

She then proceeds to grumble about “recklessly heroic nephews” and “trying to pull down a jet, for fuck’s sake”. During that time, the only talk of Avengers was when it was mentioned in current events for civics class and when they had to calculate the trajectory of Thor’s hammer for physics. Now, Peter’s finishing up that work so that he won’t have to worry about playing catch up during the rest of the week.

The three of them get to school early to keep from having to worry about a tardy slip along with the absences, excused or not. By the time the late bell rings for homeroom, he only has one more assignment left. He keeps writing through the announcements, and only pauses to answer for attendance. Finally, he collapses in the back of his chair, sighing in relief. He rubs the side of his hand on his pants, trying to get off some of the graphite that’s been smeared into his hand. For the last ten minutes of homeroom he allows the noise around him to just filter through his senses. Conversations buzz in his classroom and the rooms around him. The sounds of cars and people on the streets. The occasional cooing of a pigeon. If he focuses his hearing, he can pick up on individual heartbeats in his homeroom and those adjacent. He can tell that one of the girls in the back row feels something about the guy that was just mentioned in the conversation. Positive or negative, he doesn’t know. He focuses his sense of smell, and he can pick up the faint scent of disinfectant underneath the cologne of the boy a few rows to his left. The scraping of bandages on clothes beneath his skin tells the wallcrawler that there’s an arm injury. All of this and more go through his mind as he just sits there, taking in the world around him.

Eventually, his eyes jolt open as the bell rings in his ears. If anyone actually bothered to pay attention to him, they would have thought that it woke him up. He exhales, packing up the few things left on his desk and moving to his first class of the day.

***

After spending the previous week basking in the afterglow of fighting against a team of highly trained and enhanced individuals, a normal day at school gets a little frustrating. Sure, with his intelligence, most of the teachers at this STEM school don’t single him out unless nobody else can answer a question; but there are a few classes that he’d rather not be in so soon after such an amazing event. His literature course was one such class.

His teacher wasn’t mean, per se. Hell, none of the teachers he’s had at the school were purposefully rude or jerks. The problem is that she wasn’t exactly the most unbiased teacher. Analysis, analysis, analysis. That’s about ninety nine percent of what they’ve done the months we’ve been in this class, and those that had her last year say that it’s the same for the rest of the year. Add in her inability to praise anyone except for students she singled out during the first couple weeks of school, and the class is downright exhausting. If it wasn’t for the fact that she basically takes anything MJ says as literary law, and her understanding that Ned and Peter have their work checked and edited by the girl, the two boys would probably be squeaking by on a “B-” like the rest of her non-favorites. This, along with all of the other things MJ’s helped him with, has put Peter forever in the realm of making sure there are no mistakes in the girl’s chemistry and mathematics work. There’s hardly ever any regardless, but the few that he does catch is enough to help him show his gratefulness to her for keeping his grades up.

Peter turns in his late work, hinting that MJ has hers done as well, and takes a seat to listen to her drone on about the symbolism of various parts of a poem they had gone over last class. He tries to pay attention, but after she dismisses a boy’s comment for his Greek parallel in the poem when the title is literally Icarus, he goes back to daydreaming.

***

The next class goes pretty much the same. Go in, turn in late work, let his mind wander while they cover a section of the textbook that he’s already read, and leave just as the bell rings. He stows his books in his locker before heading over to the cafeteria. He waits in line, ordering three meals to offset his metabolism, before heading to his usual table. With Midtown being a mainly private funded school, the lunches provided at least taste like real food. Plus, the fruit isn’t half rotten. He inhales two of the three helpings before Ned and MJ sit down.

“Today’s been kind of slow, hasn’t it?” Ned comment as soon as he sits down.

“What do you expect?” Peter sighs, nibbling on a chicken nugget. “After last week, even our more exciting days might not hold up.”

“On the bright side,” MJ smiles, unusually optimistic. “I had civics today. We’ve started covering the Sokovia Accords. I got to shut down some discriminatory ass-hats when they started going off about enhanced. About half of the class were nodding along, and most of the rest of them looked like they had their eyes opened.”

“Cool,” Peter nods appreciatively. “How do you think those amendments are going, anyways?”

“Not sure,” MJ’s normal resting face come back. “All I’ve seen about Stark so far is that he seems to have been spotted having dinner with Pepper Potts.”

“It has only been a few days,” Ned assures them. “Maybe he’s waiting for the heat to die down a bit. I mean, the divide in the Avengers is still big news. From what Mr. Stark said, that Ross guy probably wouldn’t like him talking about changing the Accords so soon after that big conflict happening.”

“I was thinking that, too,” she agrees. “I’m thinking that he’ll start moving in the next couple of weeks. Until then,” she points her plastic fork at Peter. “Cats out of trees and helping old ladies only. Maybe purse snatching and muggings, at the most. Drug deals and anything bigger is to be reported to the police. They’ve always liked an excuse to push the ‘War on Drugs’ anyways, and I’m willing to give them a few weeks to do so in order to help the greater good. We don’t need an enhanced in the news for anything big while this mess is settling down, so keep your mandibles out of trouble.”

“Got it,” the spider themed hero sighs.

“Besides,” MJ frowns. “I talked with my guardians before school. They agreed that you need to lay low after Germany. Even without physical evidence of you being there, people still know that you’ve fought the Avengers. Nothing high profile until the process starts that’ll get you out of hot water. We don’t need more exposure.”

Peter’s face gets a bit more serious as he repeats. “Got it.”

Right before the table begins to settle into its nearly depressed state, Ned does what he does best. He brings the mood around to a more exciting topic. It starts out with a debate around which Avenger’s team would win in a fight if they mixed up the teams from the airport. Then, the two boys start adding in various characters from sci-fi and fantasy movies. MJ, her usual hard-backed book in hand, adds in her two cents on occasion. She casually reminds them of the book versions of a few characters, which changes the results of some of their matches. It doesn’t take long until it’s an all-out war between Ned and Peter’s all-star hero teams as they have a miniature battle with pen, paper, and imagination; both of them staring across the table with smirking glares as they debate their points and argue with their play-by-play strategies. They only stop when MJ looks up from her book and smiles.

“Hey, Liz.”

Peter turns around to see the captain of the decathlon team striding towards their table, her friends following behind her. Peter swallows down his nervousness and tries to calm his heart as it threatens to beat out of his chest.

“Hey guys,” the senior girl smiles at the three of them. “How was California?”

“Pretty good,” MJ replies, allowing the two boys to recover themselves. “Nothing I couldn’t have learned here, but the change in scenery definitely helped me relax into things a bit.”

“That’s great,” Liz beams at her, before turning to Peter and Ned. “What about you two?”

Peter recovers, remembering his story. “I learned quite a bit. I-I think I impressed a few people. You know, with my physics and chemistry stuff. Ned got to show off his computing skills.”

“Peter pushed himself a little hard, though,” Ned adds on. “Was resting pretty much the entire ride back and most of the weekend.”

“Dude,” the boy in question gives his friend a look.

Liz’s face turns to one of concern. “Try not to strain yourself, Peter. You seem to be getting more and more exhausted lately,” she smiles again. “But I’m glad you all enjoyed your trip. We’ve got a lot of good internship opportunities at this school, but it’s not every day that you grab the attention of Stark Industries while in high school. It might even lead to a job there in the future. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

“Liz,” one of her friends taps her on the shoulder. “We have to get going.”

“Oh,” Liz Allen looks back at her friend in realization. She turns to smile at the trio sitting down. “I have to go. I volunteered for homecoming committee, and we’re having our first meeting during our free period after lunch. Practice is still on after school, so I’ll see you there.”

“Bye, Liz,” MJ says casually.

“Yeah, bye,” Peter waves a little.

The three older girls turn around and head out of the cafeteria. Not even a second after that, the bell rings, ending lunch.

“I’ll see you two nerds after school,” MJ tells them, marking her place in her book and standing up. “We’ll be going to my place after practice, alright?” She smirks as she looks at Peter. “Nice job, by the way. You actually managed to have an intelligible conversation with her. Even if it was mostly rehearsed.”

Peter stands up, puffing out an exasperated breath. Ned walks over and pats on his back sympathetically.

“Dude,” the Filipino boy whispers, a bit of laughter in his voice. “You can take on the Avengers head to head, and you choke up when Liz smiles at you.”

“Fighting is simple,” Peter grumbles. “Girls are complicated. I can dodge bullets, but my senses can’t tell me if I’ve said something stupid around a girl I like. I mean I can talk with her just fine about decathlon, but anything else and I get all nervous.”

“Well, you’d better get it together before homecoming.”

“What? Why?”

“Dude, you’ve gotta ask her.”

“No way,” Peter sputters. “Didn’t we just point out that I can barely even talk to her about the weather? How would I be able to ask her to go to a dance with me. Besides, she probably has people lining up to ask her.”

“C’mon, dude,” Ned insists. “It’s not like it’s prom. You can at least figure out if she likes you or not.”

“Ned,” Peter glares back. “Why are you the one trying to give me advice, anyways? You have just as much experience talking to girls as I do.”

“Okay, ouch,” Ned pats his chest dramatically. “Hurtful.”

“But true,” Peter counters, smirking victoriously. “Now, we have to get to class before we’re late.”

“Fine,” his best friend frowns. “But this isn’t over. I will get you to ask her.”

With that threat, the two boys split off to their separate classes. Peter turns in his work with a polite smile at his civics teacher before settling into his seat in the second to last row of the room. The lesson on the Sokovia Accords is more of a lecture in this class. Nobody really has very much energy after lunch, and the students in this class aren’t the most outspoken. It’s mostly just the teacher droning on and on about the intent of the Accords, what the motivation was for their formation, and a few lines that he believes outline the key points of the document. No mention of the fight between the Avengers about this very same document, and Peter doesn’t feel like pointing out the flaws in the teacher’s opinion despite this being one of the times he knows more about a political matter than the person teaching it.

When the bell rings, Peter picks himself up off of his desk and heads to his last class of the day. He’s glad he shares this one with Ned, it’ll help him wake up before decathlon. Add in that his Spanish teacher doesn’t really allow anyone to sleep in her class, and he’ll be nice and focused for his first practice back. He sets his work next to Ned’s on the teacher’s desk, nodding to her politely, and sits down in the desk next to his friend. They both pull out their notes and wait for the bell to start class.

***

“Peter,” Mr. Harrington smiles. “Ned, Michelle. It’s good to have you all back. How was the retreat?”

“Great, Mr. Harrington,” Peter smiles back. “I had a great time.”

“It was really fun,” Ned nods. “The tech there was amazing. I got to do some things I’ve never had the opportunity to do before.”

“Did some networking,” MJ shrugs. “Most of them were a bit conceited, but they’ll help in the future.”

Like usual, the staff rep of the team doesn’t exactly know what to say to the girl’s comment. He blinks for a moment before saying, “Okay then.”

With that, the three of them take their seats up at the tables. Liz smiles at them while she sorts through the flashcards on the podium. Ned and Peter take some of their homework out and start passing it back as they work on it to check each other. MJ pulls out her sketchbook. Maybe it’s for her art class, maybe it’s because Mr. Harrington mimics the facial expressions of the characters he reads about in his novels. Either way, every person finds something to as they trickle in for practice. Finally, after about half an hour, Liz claps her hands at the podium.

“Alright,” she gathers everyone’s attention. “Flash isn’t going to be here this week, so everyone is present.”

Peter was wondering why it was so quiet. This is turning out to be a really good couple of weeks.

“Now,” the captain continues. “I thought, since a few of our team members weren’t here for most of last week, we’d do some head to head practice matches to get them back into the swing of things.” She picks up a bowl from the podium. “Everyone’s name is in this bowl to start out. We’ll be doing this in pairs. Mr. Harrington will read the questions so that I can participate. After everyone goes a few rounds, I’ll mix up the pairs again.”

After the drawing, Peter takes his seat next to Cindy. Facing him at the other table is probably one of the most awe-inspiring combinations he could imagine, Liz and MJ.

“I think we can do this,” Cindy purses her lips, determined.

“Maybe,” Peter nods. “I think we’ve got a good balance between us. The biggest challenge will be pressing the bell before MJ in the literary and social sciences. Think we can handle that?”

“Yeah,” Cindy says, a little more confident. She takes a breath. “We’ve got this.”

They did have it. At least, they half had it. They did really good in science and math. Peter answered most of the questions, with Liz managing to sneak in a couple and Cindy taking a few more. Cindy’s always had physics come easy to her. MJ, however, just sat there, which did more to unnerve Peter than the close calls and missed rings ever would. Then, they switched subjects.

Obviously, Peter and Cindy tried their best, but it wasn’t enough. Of course, classical literature is Cindy’s specialty. With that, she also has a lot of experience in the histories. However, she still could barely get past MJ’s reaction time and Liz’s sure confidence in the subject. Even with Peter helping in the history section, the two girls on the other side still pulled ahead by the end of the competition. Peter and Cindy lost by only three questions.

The two of them collapse back in their chair, groaning in disappointment. They flop their heads over at each other.

“They got us,” Cindy sighs. “I thought we had it after that first half.”

“Me too,” Peter nods. “We should’ve known, though.”

Cindy gives an amused exhale. “Yeah, but good job on science and math.”

“I knew you would’ve gotten most of the questions in the math section,” Peter compliments her. “If I wasn’t faster on the bell.”

“Alright,” MJ frowns at the two of them across the gap between the tables. “Get out of there, both of you. You’re taking up precious time.”

Both of the losers get up with a groan, stretching slightly before taking their walk of shame down the steps from the stage.

The next couple hours consist of a shuffling of competitors as Liz checks off the different pairs and combinations in a notebook. Although it isn’t official, Abe keeps score for the individual people. He marks down how many wins someone has in a little chart he made. Finally, after Charles and Liz face off against Sally and Cindy. Sally and Cindy squeak by on a very narrow margin. It’s mostly their reaction speeds that get it, but that’s to be expected from the two members of the team that play sports. As Liz wraps up her practice, Abe stands with his list.

“Okay,” he announces in his best judge voice. “The placement is as follows. Michelle in first place. Liz and Peter tied for second. Ned, Cindy, and Sally next. Me and Charles bringing up the rear.” He shuts his notebook. “Well, everyone, this has been great; but it looks like I have studying to do if I’m going to keep Flash in alternate.” He hops down from the stage and slings his backpack over his shoulder.

“Practice tomorrow will be reviewing some of the material we struggled on today,” Liz calls out. “We need to be ready for our first playoff match in two weeks. Study hard.” She turns to the trio and smiles. “Good job you three. Hey, MJ, do you mind if I talk with you for a bit, in private?”

The girl in question turns to her two friends. “Just wait for me by the steps outside.”

Peter and Ned head out the door, with Peter’s enhanced hearing picking up some of the conversation.

“So, I have a few things I need to talk to you about,” Liz starts. “I know it’s still a while away, but I need to know what you…”

He could probably have listened more if he tried, but the spiderling doubts MJ would appreciate the eavesdropping. She’d tell us if she wanted, but they’ve learned to respect each other’s privacy to a certain degree.

It’s only about ten minutes before both girls walk out of the school doors. Ned and Peter stand up to greet them.

“Well, my parents are here,” Liz smiles at the group. “So, I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Peter gives a nervous smile. “See yah.”

Liz gets into the car at the pick-up area, and MJ takes a deep breath before exhaling.

“Okay,” she starts walking. “Let’s head out.”  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone is wondering, I kind of vented about my AP Lit teacher in the classroom montage. I'm also going to flesh out the decathlon members a small bit more. I just feel like they're good to draw on in the case of fluff or good side characters. As always kudos and comments. Don't be mean.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally. The Assassins.

Chapter 5

MJ unlocks the door to the building before shoving it open. The heavy metal moves on worn but sturdy hinges, allowing the three teenagers inside.

They enter into the warehouse, and Peter takes in the familiar surroundings. Crates and railings stacked and hanging all around. It’s the average look of a storage warehouse, but with state of the line tech and security systems riddled throughout the place. Perfect for when he’s training, and locked down in case of intruders. They weave through the piles and racks until they reach a set of stairs and start to climb.

“Michelle!” A familiar English accent sounds behind them. “I could use a hand here!”

The trio turn to see a stack of boxes with legs trying not to tip over. Peter jumps down the few steps they climbed before taking a majority of the boxes from the man. With his super strength, he can barely feel the weight.

“Thank you,” the man breathes out.

“No problem, Shaun,” Peter replies behind his stack.

“Oh, Peter,” Shaun Hastings starts. “I wasn’t aware you were here as well.” He looks up the steps. “Good to see you and Ned again. Been a couple of weeks, has it?”

“Yes,” Ned nods, smiling at the Englishman. “We’ve been a little busy.”

“We’ve heard,” Shaun smirks, before going back to his normal expression. “Now, let’s each of you take a box from Peter. Enhanced senses or not, got to at least let him look where he’s going, don’t we?”

They do what he asks and follow him up the stairs. As they push open the doors at the top of the stairs, the scene changes. It turns from a warehouse into what could be a penthouse suit. Engraved wooden doors and trimming, white painted walls, and the sound of tech buzzing through the walls.

“Rebecca!” Shaun calls in. “You didn’t tell me the boys were here, too!”

“You didn’t ask!” A voice calls back from down the hall.

Shaun huffs in exasperation before grumbling. “You’d think she’d be more apt to tell me these things when we’re in a top-secret Assassin’s base.”

They carry the boxes down the hallway the woman’s voice came from until it opens up into a penthouse suite. Computer monitors on one wall, a tac board and papers along another, with desks spread out all along the board. Papers, with various names, dates, and descriptions cover the board and desks. A few other desks are also strewn about the area, with various different items on them. On the computer side, one desk sticks slightly out from the others, facing the door. Behind it is a figure typing away on a keyboard. She leans over to the side, looking around the monitor, and waves.

“Hey guys!” Rebecca Crane smiles. “How goes it?”

“Come now, Rebecca,” Shaun starts with his admonishing voice. “Don’t you think I should be informed of any unexpected visitors.”

“Not if they’re one of us,” she counters. “They should be allowed here anytime if that’s the case.”

“Of course, they’re allowed here, but I’d very much like to know who’s on the premises. That’s especially true when you already called down to tell me Michelle’s home. Couldn’t you have, I don’t know, added a ‘she brought the boys with her’ or ‘Peter and Ned are here too’ perhaps?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she waves him off. He walks over to his work station, muttering to himself. Then, she turns back to the trio, who are all in various degrees of amusement. “So, I’ve already heard from MJ, but how was Germany?”

“Yes, please,” Shaun spins around to face them in his chair. “How was boxing against most of ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’? Did you knock a few of their teeth loose? Get in a few hits for me?”

“Shaun,” Rebecca sighs. “We all know you’re peeved because none of them are from Western Europe, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t want to protect it all the same.”

“Tell that to Bucharest,” he scoffs. “Or Germany, for that matter. All I’m saying is that there were plenty of highly trained SHIELD agents that were from Europe when the Avengers first formed. It couldn’t have been so hard to get at least one of them-.”

“Shaun!” Rebecca interrupts. “You can rant about something that happened over a decade ago in a little bit, but right now I’d like to hear a first-hand account of our boys and girl going up against a group of people who can stop alien invasions.”

“Right,” the whiny Brit nods. “Pull up a chair. Let’s hear the full perspective between the three of you. Michelle also tells us Ned has video footage?”

“Oh yeah!” Rebecca’s smile widens even further. “Plug into the large monitor. We can watch it while you give us a play-by-play.”

It takes a while. With the two boys pausing the video to go in depth on what’s happening at each big moment, it takes at least twice the amount of time of the fight itself. They received quite a few cheers and some laughter from Rebecca, and the occasional smile and nod from Shaun. Finally, they wrap things up with Peter falling unconscious.

“That was very dangerous, Peter,” Shaun frown in concern. “Have you received a check up for your injuries?”

“Yes,” the vigilante answers. “Mr. Stark had some physicians check me over, and Aunt May had a basic rundown done at the hospital she works at. I’ve got a clean bill of health.”

“Good,” Shaun nods curtly. “Can’t have you healing wrong now, can we?”

“Glad you’re doing alright, Pete,” Rebecca smiles. “As for the fight. You did amazing. Multiple highly trained fighters, enhanced and with tech out of some science fiction novels, and you held your own against them. All while holding back enough to keep them from receiving any severe wounds. You took away the Falcon’s wings and Captain America’s shield, cutting their combat capabilities down significantly. Although I can’t condone you injuring yourself so much, you still did your best to complete the mission assigned to you to the best of your ability.”

“True,” Shaun agrees. “I will give you that, but those injuries would not have been necessary if you hadn’t spent that time fighting with the Good Captain or slowed down when Ant-man had turned giant. As for restraining the Winter Soldier and Falcon, the change in directive made stopping the jet the priority. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”

“Thank you, Shaun,” his partner nods gratefully. “Other than Shaun’s comments. The only thing I can see is at the end when you tried to stop the quinjet. I would’ve recommended using the webs to get onto the jet to take it down physically, but your idea would have worked on any normal jet without state-of-the-art propulsion and gyroscopic balancing systems.”

“Alright,” Peter frowns, thinking. “Do you have any news about the Accords? I know MJ says there isn’t anything, but did anything come in while we were at school.”

“Nothing about the document itself,” Rebecca wheels her chair back to her computer. “But we did pick up quite a bit of interesting intel.”

“For one,” Shaun continues. “Surprisingly, we have yet to find any direct Templars in any of the main committees in charge of the Accords. We have, however, found multiple possible members in some of the countries where the government support for the document has become fairly- how should we put this- obsessive.”

“Only a few in America, luckily,” Rebecca says. “And none in New York besides the base we already know about. But we’ve already sent all of what we could find to a few of the branches we’ve got in the areas. We’ve also had multiple different allies spreading every single flaw about the Accords to various sites and news groups online to undermine the support they’ve garnered. It should become easier to get the document amended, or thrown out, as time goes on.”

“What about with Mr. Stark?” Peter asks. “Or the other Avengers?”

“Stark should have reached Bucharest by now,” Shaun starts. “He’s going under the guise of a member of the active team of the Avengers trying to apologize to the various countries affected by this whole fiasco.”

“And what’s he actually doing?” MJ catches the subtext.

“From what we can tell,” Rebecca smiles. “He’s gathering supporters. See, with Barnes not being responsible for the Vienna bombing, Stark’s able to claim that the rushed action brought about by the United Nations jumping on the first answer they could find caused more harm than good. Adding on that our intel from the CIA shows that the agency had shoot on sight orders on the man, he can specifically target that organization for almost killing someone for a crime he didn’t commit.”

“After that,” Shaun picks up. “I’d subtly point out that the Accords were also quite the rush job, and pick apart the flaws one at a time. All the while, I would dig up the dirty secrets of this Ross character and feed them to the right people in the press and government.”

“You don’t have to dig really deep,” Rebecca frowns. “One of the few good things about the SHIELD dump, besides exposing HYDRA, was the various records of the corrupt non-HYDRA politicians it has. Including Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross and his obsessive hunting spree for Doctor Banner. He apparently used government and military resources for his private man hunt. He even delved into some top-secret experimental super-soldier program and created another creature that almost destroyed Harlem to the point where the Hulk had to actually be brought in to subdue it.”

“Abomination,” Ned nods. “I saw the footage of that fight in some of the files I was looking through.”

“And right there is another example of Secretary Ross’s reckless action causing harm to innocents,” Shaun spreads his arms out dramatically. “If our friend Stark and his other Avenger buddies can play their cards right, the Accords should be at least slightly better and Ross should be out of office in roughly a year. Two at the most.”

“A year?” Peter grimaces. “But the other Avengers will be in the Raft for most of that, won’t they? And I helped put them there.”

“Oh no,” Rebecca chuckles. “That’s the second bit of news we have. It should leak out in another month or two, but the Avengers being held there escaped.”

“What?!” Peter looks up at the computer whiz.

“Yeah. Captain America and the Winter Soldier managed to escape Iron-man and Black Widow somehow. My guess is that they had some outside help, but it's still speculation on who. Afterwards, they took a trip to a certain maximum-security holding facility and broke their buddies out. They’re in the wind now. Probably laying low for at least a little while. After that, who knows.”

Peter’s left stunned by that. A little conflicted, to be honest. On one hand, he’s glad that they got out of that place, if MJ’s descriptions of it are anything to go by. On the other hand-

“So, the Winter Soldier…”

“We’ll keep our ears open,” Rebecca’s eyes soften. “But I’d expect Stark and what’s left of the Avengers to find them first.”

“I can’t exactly ask Mr. Stark about that,” Peter tips his head back in his chair, putting his arm over his eyes. “He’d ask me why I want to know, and that’s something I’d rather not talk about.”

“I get that,” Rebecca nods. “But if we do hear anything, we’ll tell you.”

“Thanks.”

“Well,” Shaun stands up, clapping his hands together. “Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way. I’d say that the children have homework to finish. After which, we can work on some stealth training. How does that sound?”

Taking the change of subject for what it is, Peter smiles. “Sounds great, Shaun.”

***

“Hey, Ned.”

The boy screeches. Although if you ask him, though, it was a very manly shout. He spins around to see MJ with an amused grin on her face.

“Did pretty good, loser,” she compliments him. “You need to work on being aware of your surroundings, though. You need to know when to move when someone gets close to finding you.”

“I was being aware,” Ned squawks. “You just have scarily silent footsteps. I could hear Shaun’s just fine.”

“He’s making them loud on purpose,” she explains. “That’s the point of the exercise. Stealth and detection training, and now that I’ve found you, we get to go find Peter.”

“Isn’t this just a version of hide and seek?” Ned points out after a few minutes of searching.

“Yes,” Shaun states matter-of-factly. “But it assists us in training our younger members, and you do have to admit that it is quite fun. Now, back to the hunt, young bloodhounds.”

With a snort of amusement from the two teens, the three of them strain their senses, scanning the area around them. They have, of course, conditioned themselves to look not only at eye level and below; but also, above. Peter’s been restricted to anywhere he can get without his sticky powers, but enhanced strength and stamina still do a lot to help someone with free-running. Another ten minutes of scanning before something unexpected happens.

“G-Guys,” MJ lets out a shuddering breath.

That catches both of their attention. Michelle Jones is nothing if not confident. At least, she is when she’s around people. They all have seen a few moments where she lets her walls drop, but she is otherwise one of the coolest and most collected people they know. So, any form of vulnerability, especially during a training exercise, has everyone involved looking at her with concern.

“Michelle?” Shaun frowns. “Is something the matter?”

She breathing heavier now, but she holds up a hand. “W-Wait. I need- I need to focus for a moment.”

Closing her eyes, she calms down her breathing. After a few more seconds of normal paced breathing, she opens her eyes and looks up.

“Peter!” She stares unwavering at a point in the upper corner of the warehouse. “I’m looking right at you! Come down!”

There’s two seconds of pause where MJ doesn’t even blink. Then, Peter slinks out of the shadows on the rafters, replacing the lights he had removed along the way. Instead of jumping onto the catwalk like he could easily do with his enhancements, he grabs onto some piping and starts to climb down. He does this just to prove he could get up without sticking to the walls.

“Woah,” Ned blinks at MJ as Peter makes his way to the group. “How’d you know that?”

“I saw him,” the girl stares back, struggling to keep her calm demeanor. “I could see it all. The path that he took, his individual footsteps, and he was glowing like a lantern. It was like I was looking at everything with infrared, or night-vision, or-.”

“Eagle vision,” Shaun finishes. “Or Eagle Sense. Congratulations, Ms. Jones. You may have just taken the first step to inheriting the genetic enhancements of your ancestors.”  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments. Don't be mean.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids are genius's, but what else is new?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Five and six were pretty much written together. Thought I'd post them both together, too. It's short, but you might like some of the things in it.

Chapter 6

“Well, MJ. Looks like you’re a genius.”

“We already knew that,” Peter frowns at Rebecca. “But is she okay?”

“Relax, Pete,” the techy chuckles. “It’s like Shaun said, her Eagle Sense has started becoming active. Earlier than average by at least a decade. Now, we know one of the abilities she got from her ancestors. It’s a little shocking, though. According to our records, it’s a little rare for that particular enhancement to manifest first, especially without the proper stimulus.”

“Couldn’t have gotten the stamina or reaction speed first,” MJ grumbles. “Or maybe even the increased durability or healing factor. No, I have to get the eyes that turn everyone into glow-sticks.”

“Michelle,” Shaun scolds lightly. “You’re one of the relatively few members of the Brotherhood that we can confirm has the genetic code for the Assassin’s enhancements. You shouldn’t be whining just because you didn’t start off with the one you wanted.”

“All I’m saying is that any of the other ones would be a less of a headache,” MJ argues. “Like seriously, I have a migraine right now.”

“I’ll get you something for that,” Rebecca says, riffling through a drawer in her desk. “But Shaun does have a point. Eagle Sense is one of the most mysterious parts of the Brotherhood. I mean, a sixth sense given to us by the Precursors, even you have to admit that’s a little cool.”

“Yeah, I know,” the younger girl sighs. “Still, know any way I can control it? Been trying to start it up again this entire time. Nothing. I’d rather not have it randomly activate while in the bathroom at school. I have a feeling that it’ll be similar to a black-light in that aspect, and that’s a sight I’d rather not have in my head.”

That garners a snort from Rebecca and causes Shaun’s jaw to drop in shock. He closes it, and starts walking back to his desk.

“I’ll reach out to a few people,” he sighs. “They should be able to give us a training regimen to allow you a greater control over your abilities. Until then, just remember that this is just another one of your senses. Treat it like so, and it should be fine. You’re a smart girl, you’ll be fine until I hear back.”

“And if you get desperate, you can talk with Peter,” Rebecca advises. “His Spidey sense originates from the intermingling of the Assassin genes and whatever that spider gave him. His powers might still be developing, but he could at least help you out if you have trouble.”

“No offense,” MJ mumbles, taking a bottle of water and a couple of pills from Rebecca. “But Peter isn’t really the best teacher when it comes to things like this.”

“Okay,” Peter’s hand covers his heart. “Ouch.”

“Peter, to be fair,” Ned joins in. “You do tend to act more on instinct than anything else. Don’t get me wrong, you can plan, but that’s also the reason we’re in your ear when you’re patrolling. You know, intel, ideas, and being your voice of reason.”

“Fine,” Peter sighs, he looks at MJ again. “But if you do need any help, I’m always able to give what little advice I have.”

“Thanks,” she nods gratefully. “Right now, though, I’m going to down these pills and go to my room to sleep away this enhanced migraine. I’ll see you two losers tomorrow.”

She confidently walks away, chugging her water at the same time. When she turns the corner, the three people remaining in the circle look back at each other.

“She should be fine by tomorrow,” Rebecca confirms.

“And if she isn’t,” Shaun calls from his own computer. “We’ll just right her a sick note. She shouldn’t be out for more than a day or two, though.”

“Well,” Rebecca brings the conversation back. “Ned, why don’t we work on a bit of programming for the next hour or two, and Peter, are you planning on going on patrol tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” he nods. “I was planning on going out for a few hours at least.”

“Why don’t you go make sure you have enough web-fluid,” she suggests. “And make sure your web shooters are ready.”

He perks up at that. “Oh yeah! I’d been meaning to modify them a bit. Can I use some of the spare parts in the basement?”

“That’s fine,” Shaun calls. “But make sure you tell us what you used and the modifications you’ve made. They’re your lifeline, and we’d rather not have you any danger due to the changes you’ve made.”

“It’s just a few ideas I got from using Mr. Stark’s suit,” he explains. “Nothing too different, it’ll just make it easier to aim and control the shooter’s catch and release.”

“Alright,” the man nods back. “Just be sure you test them a bit before going out tomorrow.”

“Will do,” Peter salutes before running down to get his supplies.

Both Shaun and Rebecca shake their heads, identical expressions of amusement on their faces. The enthusiasm and energy of the three teens always seems to brighten the building whenever they’re together. Even if the other Assassins that pass through here on missions don’t always like having teens on the front lines, but they do agree that their presence takes a load off of the stress that this never-ending war brings.

The rest of the time is spent in relative silence, with the occasional word of advice to Ned from Rebecca, typing noises from the computers, and clinking from the beakers on the desk Peter’s commandeered. Eventually, Peter’s beakers change to the sound of metal on metal as he modifies his web shooters.

“Hey, Pete,” Rebecca calls out to him. “How long until you’re done?”

“Ten,” he doesn’t look up, eyes concentrating on the nozzle of the web shooter. “Fifteen minutes at the most.”

“Take your time,” Rebecca assures him. “But you should probably be getting home after you finish. It’s getting a little late.”

Tightening one more screw, Peter looks up and out the window. The sky above the towering buildings is beginning to fade into the familiar hues of red and orange. He didn’t realize how late it was getting.

“Alright,” Peter nods. “Just let me finish this up. Then I can head out.”

“Like she said, Peter,” Shaun pipes up. “Take your time. We would rather have you take longer working and stay safe than rush and hurt yourself later.”

Like the vigilante said, it takes another fifteen minutes of focus and engineering ability to finish his modifications. After he’s done, he packs up his supplies and leaves with Ned. By the time they reach Ned’s apartment, the sun’s completely set. He texts May, telling her that he’s on his way home after dropping off Ned. She responds with a “See you soon. I’ll have dinner waiting.” not even a few seconds later.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments. Don't be mean.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Assassins have come to town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Introduction of a few OCs. Naming has never been my strong suit, so don't take that to heart too much.

Chapter 7

“Guess who’s back!”

Everyone’s currently sitting on the stage at decathlon practice when a familiar, if not entirely welcome, voice sounds through the room.

“Welcome back, Flash,” Liz smiles at him. “I wasn’t sure you were going to make it today.”

“I got in during lunch,” he smirks. “Which means I can still participate in practice.”

“And I thought this week was going to be quiet, too,” MJ mumbles in to her book.

“Our first match for regionals is only a week away,” she explains. “And we need to be ready. I thought we could do some team bonding this week before we get into the drills. Cindy’s volunteered her house tomorrow. We’ll be having snacks, games, and a few different exercises to help everyone get to know each other.”

With that, they go back to their practice. Today, it’s a high paced lightning round of mixed subject matter. It keeps everyone focused the entire time. When you don’t know what subject it will be, you constantly have to be listening. A few times, some of them answered questions outside of their normal topics. Going to a STEM school and being around some of the smartest people there, you pick up a lot of surface knowledge in various fields. There’s not enough time for anyone to actually write down a score, but Peter, Ned, and MJ answer the largest variety of questions. Everyone else does well with their own specialties. Flash is struggling to keep up, but he does pretty good with some of the more business minded mathematics questions and classical literature. Liz is firing off question after question as fast as she can, trying to keep everyone on their toes. It’s mentally straining for everybody involved, but that’s the point. By the last of Liz’s giant stack of questions, most of the team is in varying stages of exhaustion. Peter himself is not physically tired, spider stamina is useful in these cases, but his throat is parched despite him filling up his water bottle during every single break they’ve had. MJ looks like her headache is coming back, and Ned’s head is resting on the table. Everyone else has the same tired look and red face. Even Liz looks tired from all of those questions.

“Good job everyone,” the senior captain smiles. “Now, after that, I think we all could use a nice, relaxing day tomorrow, don’t you?”

Peter blinks. She planned this. Beside him, MJ seems to come to the same conclusion. Everyone packs up their things and drags their feet out of the school.

***

“Wow,” MJ laughs a little. “Didn’t know she had it in her.”

“That was a little vicious,” Peter agrees.

“I’m impressed,” the girl smirks. “And I don’t think she got that from any of those leadership and teamwork books she’s been reading.”

“How’s the head?” Peter’s voice changes to concern. “I saw you rubbing your temples close to the end.”

“Alright,” she sighs. “I think the exhaustion kind of triggered my Sense. I’ve been getting better at controlling it, but it’s still a struggle.”

“Well,” Peter shrugs. “It’s only been a week. I’d be surprised if you got the hang of it. From what I can tell, it’s a lot more complicated than my Spidey sense. It took me a few days of constant panic and weeks of training to get to where I am with it.”

“But your powers are still developing,” she points out. “You might just be scratching the surface of what you can do.”

“Yeah,” Peter sighs.

The school doors open behind them, and Ned runs out. “Sorry guys.”

Peter hands his friend the other backpack. “No problem. If you’ve gotta go, you’ve gotta go.”

“So,” Ned smiles. “What are we talking about?”

Peter jerks his head towards the girl next to him. “MJ’s new observational skills.”

She snorts. “That’s one way to put it.”

“Rebecca says you’ve been doing really good in training,” Ned tells her. “Says you’ve been working hard and Shaun sees a lot of improvement. What type of training do you do anyways?”

“It’s pretty much just analytical stuff,” MJ shrugs as she starts walking. “Searching for clues, hidden objects, and specific people. Just the other day we actually started doing something I find a little amusing.”

“What’s that?” Peter catches up to her, Ned close behind.

“We go to where celebrities or influential individuals have recently been spotted and track them down again,” she smiles. “There’s a lot of them in New York. Just yesterday I put the paparazzi back on the trail of one of American ambassadors while they were outside of the U.N. building. Tearing down the Accords, one bigot at a time.”

They go back and forth on their usual topics as they head to MJ’s place. They do a bit of a review of what they might need to study for decathlon, and try to figure out if any good movies are coming out. Finally, they’re climbing up the stairs to the living quarters of the warehouse.

Just before they can open the door, Peter feels that familiar shiver down his spine. He pulls both of his friends behind him as the door slams open and three adults briskly walk past them. A fourth comes out at a calmer pace and looks at the three teens. She gives them a slight smile, warmth showing in her eyes.

“Novices,” she nods.

The three of them straighten their backs, and place their hands on their chests. Pointer, middle, and pinky fingers extended; ring finger held down by their thumb. A salute to the sacrifice the Assassins used in the early days to show their devotion.

“It’s good to see a future generation with such promise,” she compliments them. “I would stay, but there is work to be done.”

At that, the full Assassin proceeds in her calm walk down the stairs after her companions. The three Novices stare after her while she leaves before heading through the door to see the two Assassins that they know well.

“Children!” Shaun smiles, arms outstretched as they enter into the work space. “Did you happen to catch our guests before they left?”

“Yeah,” Ned nods, still a little shocked. “What were they all doing here?”

“This is one bases of operations for Assassins in the Northeastern United States,” Shaun tells them.

“Shaun,” Rebecca looks up from her computer. “Don’t be rude.”

“Just trying to add a little humor into the conversation,” he grumbles.

“Usually there are only one or two that come here at any one time,” Peter steps forward. “Four just left, which means it’s something big.”

“It’s five in total,” Rebecca tells them. “One of them is out scouting the city.”

“Why?” MJ presses a bit more. “You still haven’t told us.”

“There’s been increasing reports of strange sighting all across the city,” the British Assassin explains. “Peculiar objects and weapons. Usually, it’s nothing. One of the Avengers doing some field training. Spider-man, or one of the other vigilantes, making their rounds. Even the occasional crackpot trying to get their fifteen minutes. Now, however, there’s been an exponential increase in reports, as well as their reliability. Some of these reports say that there are now civilians with weird weapons.”

“And the Assassins are being called in?” MJ frowns.

“Normally,” Rebecca continues. “We’d leave it to the local LEOs and Damage Control, but this sudden surge so soon after the Accords could be something that the Templars cooked up to help push the document along. There could also be Precursor tech mixed in with the weapons, and we can’t take any chances with that. The other Assassins should be here for at least a few months to try and find the source of the weapons and see if it’s anything the Brotherhood needs to worry about.”

“Do they need any help?” Peter offers.

“Spider-man should stay away from this,” Shaun states. “Remember, your alter ego can’t have any noticeable connections with the Assassins. Besides, aren’t you supposed to be keeping a low profile?”

“Shaun’s right, Peter,” Rebecca agrees. “If you find anything, let us know, but don’t go after it by yourself. We might need your help later. Right now, though, you should stick with keeping your name off of the front page.”

The boy in question sighs, pouting in disappointment. “Okay. Is there anything you need right now?”

“Not at the moment,” Shaun shakes his head. “The guest rooms have already been turned out for our temporary residents. They informed me that some of them would be coming back tonight once they get the lay of the land. If you would like, I can contact Ned’s and your guardians to let you stay overnight for some training. It’s not every day that you get experienced field agents to learn from.”

“That would be so awesome,” Ned breathes out. “I mean, that one woman seemed really cool, and the others were, like, so intense when they ran past us. Do you think they’d be okay with teaching us? Maybe they can share some of their stories.”

“I know that a few of them would be more than happy to pass their knowledge onto the next generation,” the man nods, amused smile on his face. “I’ll call your mother. Peter?”

“Sure,” Peter responds. “One question. Do they know about my identity?”

“Nope,” Rebecca pops. “‘The vigilante known as Spider-man and the future Assassin Peter Parker are to remain as separated as possible, while still keeping his safety as a priority, unless circumstances necessitate otherwise.’ Only the Council and a select few veteran members of the Brotherhood know about this. At most, you can let them know you’re enhanced, just so that they can be prepared if they decide to do some combat training with you. Be careful not to let too many of your more unique and noticeable abilities show through, though.”

“Got it,” Peter smiles. “Could I go out on a short patrol, just until dark?”

“Is your homework done?” Rebecca questions.

“Yep,” he tells her triumphantly. “Managed to get it all done before decathlon.”

“Then it’s fine,” she agrees. “Just remember. Back before sunset. If you aren’t, you’d better have a really good excuse. If something happens, call.”

“Aye, aye,” Peter salutes before turning to MJ. “Can I change in your room? Your window has the best vantage point.”

“Sure,” MJ sighs. “But you’d better not leave your clothes lying around.”

“One time, Em!” He whines back.

“Only because I keep reminding you,” she counters.

Peter grumbles as he takes his backpack to his friend’s room.

***

The clang of metal on metal echoes through the basement of the warehouse. Beads of perspiration show on Michelle Jones’ brow. The knife in her hand is steady, but despite her fighting ability, she hasn’t found an opening in her opponent’s guard. Across from her, the Assassin holds himself in a relaxed stance, not even breathing hard.

“Good technique,” he smiles. “But you’re too tense. If you hold the knife too tight, you’ll tire out sooner in long fights. It also makes it easier for a skilled opponent to read you. Too loose, however, and you lose control of the blade.”

MJ lunges again, but it’s quickly deflected. She does well at recovery, keeping her balance and guard up. She manages to deflect an incoming strike from the man, but has to block a blow from his knee coming in from the side. The force behind it causes her to stumble back. She winces as she flexes her arm.

“Duncan!” The woman Assassin shouts from the back. “I thought I said to take it easy! They have school tomorrow!”

“Sorry!” He looks back at his leader. He turns back to the girl. “Sorry. Kind of reacted on instinct. That was a good recovery on your part, and a good block.”

“Let’s stop the combat practice for today,” the woman decides.

“Yes, Master Drake,” Michelle bows slightly.

“Got it, Sarah,” Duncan nods.

Peter, after hearing this, sighs in relief and collapses where he stands. After hearing that he’s enhanced, and that those enhancements greatly assist him in combat, he was tasked with fighting against the other two that came back. He’s already shown his offensive skills, so they had him focus on defense and dodging only. The three of them have been going at it for the last half hour, and another half hour before that.

“Take a break,” Master Drake smiles at the boy. “Then, we’ll work on developing your senses. I hear that Michelle has unlocked her Eagle Sense, and you have certain sensory enhancements as well.”

“Yep,” Peter gives her a thumbs up from the ground. “All five senses have varying levels of enhancements. Plus, according to what we know, whatever gave me these enhancements also kind of intermingled with the genetic code that might eventually let me have Eagle Sense. Gave me a sort of danger sense. Helps when I fight.”

“That’s why we couldn’t hit you,” one of the Assassins Peter was fighting sits on the ground. “That’s a little unfair.”

“Not like I wanted it to happen, and it doesn’t really turn off,” Peter retorts. “You’ve gotten closer than a lot of other people, and I could tell you were holding back so you didn’t actually kill me or cut me. Other people can barely even touch me when they’re going in for the kill.”

The comment seems to comfort his two opponents, if only barely.

“We should probably take a little break before we start the next round of training,” Michelle cuts into the conversation. “I’d like to rest my body a bit, and Peter needs food in order to offset his enhanced metabolism.”

“A lot of food,” the boy agrees. “Especially after intense exercise and when I need to heal larger injuries.”

Master Drake looks down at her watch. “You know, maybe we should just stop for the night. It’s getting late, and like I said, you need to be ready for school tomorrow. I can check Novice Jones’ arm, and we can see how your friend is doing. Adding in that Duncan is now the one who is going to relieve our fellow Assassin from his patrol in another two hours, he might want to rest beforehand.”

The man sighs in resignation but doesn’t complain about the assignment. MJ and Peter can tell that the whole group is very comfortable around each other, and have more than likely worked together quite often. The group heads up the steps, bickering and poking fun at one another like friends do.

As they reach the work area, the two teens spot their voluntarily unathletic friend sitting next to Rebecca at her desk, both of them with headsets on. Ned’s chatting animatedly with whoever’s on the other line.

“So, that year Peter and I dressed up as Han and Chewie,” the boy explains. “Because, we already did Anakin and Obi-wan last year. And-.”

Ned glances up from the screen in front of him, and his smile goes even wider as he sees Peter.

“Dude!” He waves to his best friend. “Peter, this guy likes Star Wars.”

“No way!” Peter gasps, running over to his friend.

On the monitor, it shows the camera feed from the Assassin that is currently out in the field. In the picture is the towering building that is Abstergo’s New York branch. Rebecca hands Peter a third headset, smiling in amusement.

“Hello?” Peter says into the earpiece.

“You must be Peter,” the Assassin calls back. “Name’s Carter. I’ve just been talking with your friend to pass the time.”

“Carter,” Assassin Drake puts on Rebecca’s headset. “Status update.”

“Nothing of note, Master Drake,” his tone goes from playful to serious. “There have been no high-profile individuals exiting the building, and Ned and Rebecca have been keeping watch over the cameras we’ve placed at their hidden exits.”

“Not hidden very well,” Ned mumbles out a good quip.

“That’s why we have Carter and I,” Sarah responds. “Both of us have Eagle Sense. It helps find things that aren’t supposed to be found.”

“I found Shaun’s missing sock two days ago,” MJ smirks as she walks up behind the group.

“And I am very thankful for that,” Shaun calls from his own desk. “If you happen upon my previous pair of glasses, let me know.”

“Alright Carter,” Sarah continues. “You’ll be relieved of your post within the next couple of hours. Stay focused.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the camera lowers a bit in elevation as he sits down where he’s perched.

Assassin Drake smirks in amusement at Carter’s antics while she hands the headset back to Rebecca.

“Okay,” Rebecca smiles, speaking into the mouthpiece. “I know you two were enjoying your conversation, but it’s time for me to step in and be the responsible adult.” There’s an overly loud scoff from Shaun which she tactfully ignores. “You all need food, all three of you have school tomorrow, and I promised Ned’s mom and Peter’s aunt that they would go to bed at a reasonable time.”

“Well, you heard the lady,” Carter says. “Go to bed, kid. We can talk some other time, and your friend can join in, too.”

“See yah, Carter,” Ned takes his headset off and leaves the room, with Peter following close behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although he'll still be a bit of a jerk, and still pick on Peter a bit, I'm mellowing out Flash for this fic. I'm also pulling a sort of Beauty and the Beast remake and giving him a bit more of an education, because his rich parents definitely wouldn't let him get away with being uncultured and uneducated. He's forgotten a bit from disuse, but he was probably drilled with the classics and business knowledge back when he had private tutors and his parents paid a little more attention to him.
> 
> Also, not an expert knife fighter. Or any weapon for that matter. Knowledge of that subject is very limited, so please don't hate too much.
> 
> Comment and Kudos. Don't be mean.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets an unexpected guest. He also stops an ATM heist. Gets some guests there, too.

Chapter 8

Peter’s on guard when he gets to his floor. One of his web shooters is strapped on his wrist underneath his sweatshirt, while the other has his phone ready to dial the Den at a moment’s notice. He can hear his aunt making small talk with the other man in their apartment, but that doesn’t mean anything. It’s only when he gets closer and hears her let out a real laugh, not just the one she uses to be polite, that he slips his phone back into his pocket. He keeps the web shooter on, though. Just in case.

Unlocking the door and opening it, ready to spring into action, he focuses on the only two people other people on the premises. He almost deflates as the fight in him leaves.

“Peter,” May smiles widely. “We have a guest.”

“I can see that,” Peter looks back and forth between the two adults. “Been a few months. How are you, Happy?”

“I’ve been fine, Peter,” Tony Stark’s Head of Security chuckles awkwardly. “Just came by to deliver the suit. Tony was able to squeeze in time to fix and update it. I stayed because I wanted to hand it to you personally, and your aunt was kind enough to offer me some food while I wait.”

Peter’s certain that’s not the only reason he stayed, but he doesn’t voice it. See, MJ, he does have tact.

“Hopefully she wasn’t experimenting today,” Peter jokes instead. “You don’t have a super metabolism or healing factor to fight off food poisoning.”

“I think the food tastes great,” he takes another bite of a cookie. He looks at May. “You said they’re vegan? I would buy these at professional bakery.”

That causes a shy smile on his aunt’s face. Peter, trying to keep this tact thing going, and trying not to freak out at this unexpected development, spies the familiar suitcase by Happy’s feet.

“Well,” the young spiderling takes the metal case. “Do you mind if I invite the others over? I know Ned’ll want to see the suit again.”

“Sure,” May smiles at her nephew. “Just make sure they both have permission.”

“Always,” Peter calls back as he retreats to his room.

***

“Dude,” Ned glances back at the living room while the door closes. “Is Happy flirting with your-?”

“Yes,” Peter groans, falling back onto his bed. “And it’s as weird as it seems.”

“Why?” MJ shrugs. “She’s fairly attractive, and it’s not like it doesn’t happen all the time.”

“Yeah,” Peter agrees. “But that’s with cashiers, waiters, and people who are basically strangers. This time, I know the person, and I might be around the guy more often in the future. It’s like the time when one of my middle school teachers tried to ask her on a date during a parent-teacher conference.”

“Right,” Ned winces slightly. “I remember that. He was sort of awkward around you for the rest of the year.”

“Well,” MJ sits in Peter’s desk chair. “Unless you want to use your powers for the world’s most intimidating shovel talk, which I would not recommend, there really isn’t anything you can do about it right now. So, break out the spandex.” Ned raises an eyebrow at the comment, while MJ gives an amused smirk. “What, you and I both know how many more objectifying comments will be posted on those vigilante spotting websites after this. It started after the moody Devil of Hell’s Kitchen changed their look, it’s bound to happen when the bright and chipper Spider-man tightens his clothes.”

“Can we not talk about this?” Peter begs.

“Fine,” the girl breaks into a wider grin while she sits in her chair, watching. “I’m just surprised that the people at our school haven’t realized that you wear those loose-fitting clothes to hide your washboard abs.”

“That’s the whole point of wearing them,” Peter counters. “People don’t need to know that I’m a lot more muscular than any nerd should be.”

“Still,” she continues. “You hardly ever sweat in gym, and not even Coach Wilson has noticed that. If you were even moderately popular, half of the female student body would’ve found out and tried to jump on you. Heck, I could probably make a killing off of selling photos of you shirtless to some of the girls at school if I could convince them it’s not Photoshop and I wouldn’t get arrested for soft-core child pornography.”

“So,” Ned joins the conversation. “The only thing standing between Peter and getting a date to homecoming is him taking off his shirt?”

“That,” she agrees. “And his complete lack of social skills. Of course, plenty of girls would find that endearing, too.”

“Okay, guys,” Peter sighs. “I’m done. You can stop talking about my complete lack of attractiveness.”

“Oh no,” MJ spins around in the chair. “You’re not unattractive. You’ve got that kind of cute puppy look that a lot of girls would like. It’s just that most of them don’t notice it behind the nerdy personality.”

“Well,” Peter spreads his arms wide. “As nice as this conversation has been, what do you think?”

She looks him up and down, then up and down again, before shrugging. “Eh, like I said, nothing I haven’t seen before.”

“Still awesome,” Ned breathes out. “Let’s hook up my laptop to the feed again, and you can do some patrolling with it.”

“Let’s do it,” Peter smiles.

***

“Peter,” Ned starts, a little nervous. “I think we should call this one in.”

The camera feed is currently showing an ATM building, with the sun setting behind him, with a group of guys in what look to be those cheap dollar store Avengers’ masks. It’s not the most common sight, but it’s not unheard of in this area. What causes Ned to hesitate is what two of the guys are carrying.

“Peter,” MJ comes on the coms. “I have to agree with Ned. Those weapons aren’t normal.”

It’s at that moment that they use one of those guns to cut the entire ATM out of the wall.

“Yeah,” Ned comes back up. “I’m calling Rebecca. This is exactly what she was talking about.”

“They won’t get here in time,” Peter argues.

“Peter,” it’s MJ again, voice even firmer. “If they brought that type of firepower, they’re planning on getting every single ATM in there. We don’t know what that tech does, and you’re not at your best when fighting in an enclosed space. If they do happen to leave too soon, then you can stall them. Until then, just stay put.”

Both of the teens on the screen can tell that Peter’s pouting a bit, even without seeing his face, but the vigilante can’t help it. For the past three months, he’s been limiting himself to calling the police as an anonymous tip for anything larger than a shoplifter. MJ says it won’t be long until things settle back down, but he’s getting a bit stir crazy. He kind of wishes Mr. Stark would be able to-.

“Hey guys,” Peter realizes something. “Do you think we should tell Happy or Mr. Stark about the weird weapons? I mean, this is sort of right up their alley, right?”

“We will,” MJ responds. “But only after the Assassins get a little bit further along in their investigation. We don’t want to complicate things too much by having the two parties crossing paths.”

“How’s my aunt and Happy?”

“They’re watching a movie together,” Ned reports. “But Mr. Happy is still on the opposite end of the couch from her. I think he’s heard about May pointing a knife at Mr. Stark.”

“I’ve heard the occasional giggle, though,” MJ follows-up. “I think they’ll be around to couch cuddling by the third or fourth visit.”

Conflicting feelings of amusement and slight disgust come to Peter’s mind at that picture. He keeps his eyes focused on the crooks, and sees that MJ is right. They’re starting on the second ATM after loading up the money from the first. The wallcrawler watches impatiently as they continue on with their business. They make great time, each of them having at least one bag slung over their shoulder, some with two.

“Okay, they’re leaving,” Peter says impatiently.

“And Master Drake is less than three minutes out,” MJ reports. “So, yes, you can stall them. Take out the two with the bigger weapons first. Stay focused, and make sure to act like you don’t know the Assassins when they get there. Remember, this whole thing is still a secret.”

Peter webs himself over to the entrance of the building, sticking himself to the wall above the door. He just hangs there for another minute before the glass door opens and the guys walk out, bragging about their big score and talking about the other targets. As soon as they all exit, Spider-man drops down, covering the mouth of the man wielding the ATM cutter. Using his other hand, he delivers a quick, controlled, and heavily practiced blow to the man’s neck. Peter catches the man and his weapon before he hits the ground, but unluckily, one of the others just happens to turn around.

“Hey!” The robber shouts, raising his gun.

Reacting quickly, the hero jumps above the man and lands right in front of the other guy with the strange weapon. He grabs the strap slung over the man’s shoulder with both of his hands and pulls it apart. The material tears like tissue paper and another yank has the weapon now in Spider-man’s grip. With his other hand, webs shoot to the ground, sticking the crook in his place. With a bit more strength in his legs, he launches himself back up to his perch on the wall and quickly webs the weapon there.

“You’re a long way from Avenger’s Tower.”

The two other robbers don’t waste much time gawking. They aim their completely normal, and easier to deal with, guns at the vigilante. He slings another web on one guys’ leg. Pulling, the slips up, while the spiderling dodges the other bullet coming his way. He finishes sticking the first guy to the ground before jumping into the personal space of the second. The man throws a punch, which is easily caught. Then, he tries to pistol whip the teen. Also caught. Peter pulls his opponent down to the ground, disarms him, and webs him like his friend. Observing his handiwork, he checks out the only person still standing. Funny enough, it’s the dude with the Iron-man mask. He’s still trying to pull his feet out.

“You know, it’s a pretty dick move to dress up as the heroes to commit crimes.”

If it wasn’t for his enhanced senses, he wouldn’t have heard them. Be that as it may, he can still just barely make out their footsteps as they approach behind him.

“One step closer, and you get what they got,” Peter deepens his voice a bit.

“Like to see you try,” there’s the familiar sound of unsheathing metal as the hidden blades are armed and knives are drawn.

“Were you with the kid on the roof?” Peter goes with the prefabricated cover story.

“I know you’re doing good for this city,” Master Drake takes the lead, ignoring his question. “Which is why we’ll just take the weapons, be on our way, and nobody has to get hurt.”

“No can do,” Spider-man turns around to meet the three of them. “Those need to go to the police.”

“Then it looks like,” she sighs. “We’re going to have a problem.”

He dodges an arrow that comes whistling out of the darkness and rolls out of the way as Carter lunges out of a shadow with his hidden blade.

“Like we planned,” Master Drake tells the two beside her.

They spring into action. One of the Assassins he trained with, Bret, goes to the weapon by the downed ATM robber. Duncan shoot a grappling hook up to the roof of the building winding up until he’s level with the weapon Peter webbed up there.

“Hey!” The spiderling look back and forth between the two of them. “Those don’t belong to you!”

Before he can try to go after either, he has to dodge another attack from Carter. Then, four arrows come flying from the same area as before in quick succession. He has to do some flips to get through that without a scratch.

“Okay,” he holds up his hands. “This is a new suit, so if we could not put any cuts or holes in it, I’d really appreciate it.”

“Then, I’ll ask you again,” Master Drake gives an amused smirk. “Leave.”

Peter pauses for a moment and takes a deep breath. Then, with an enhanced level of speed and precision, he fires out five shots of web. Two shoot off in the direction that the arrows came from, one hits Carter and webs his arm to the crooks’ getaway vehicle. Another sticks Bret’s hand to the ground as he’s pulling the weapon away from the unconscious robber. The last one is ducked by Master Drake as she immediately charges towards the webslinger. Three knives come flying out from under her cloak, and two daggers appear in her hands. If he wasn’t in this situation, Peter would’ve probably gushed about how he went all Matrix on the knives as he bent underneath them. Now, however, he’s blocking two sharp objects from poking holes in him as he comes up. He flips her over his head and sends her careening into Carter as he finishes cutting himself loose. Suddenly, he ducks again as an arrow flies over his head. He turns to see James, the archer, arm outstretched.

“Did you just throw an arrow?” People could probably tell that Peter was gaping behind the mask. “I mean, it would probably be a lot cooler if it wasn’t aimed at me, but still.”

“Spider-man,” he hears MJ in his ear. “They’ve gotten the weapons. Make your little quip and leave.”

“Not that this hasn’t been fun,” the masked vigilante starts. “But I think I can hear sirens, so I’m going to head out.” He jumps up and shoots a few more webs at them, hitting a couple of times. “Something to remember me by.”  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly used the fighting style I used in the games for the robbers. Wait for them to get into a good position, take out the bigger guys while they aren't aware, then the small fry are easy pickings.
> 
> Kudos and Comments. Don't be mean.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tech review. Short training fluff, with a bit of seriousness at the end. Have fun.

Chapter 9

On the way home, because he’s kind of done with crime-fighting for the night, he makes sure to bob and weave through various buildings and circle around quite a few blocks before getting anywhere near his house. He’s never been entirely sure what the extent of Eagle Sense is, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. He crawls through his bedroom window, with the sun long since set, more tired from his evasive maneuvers than from the fighting before. His friends are there looking up at him. He drops from the ceiling, bouncing onto his bed, and pulls his mask off.

“Peter,” Ned’s in Peter’s desk chair next to his bed. “How are you doing?”

The vigilante covers his face with his arm. “I’ve been better.”

“Did you get hit?” MJ sits next to him on the bed.

“No,” he shakes his head. “But it was pretty exhausting. And stressful.”

“I bet,” Ned winces. “Five Assassins, right after an alien tech ATM heist. That must’ve been tough.”

“The ATM heist was simple,” Peter brushes that off. “And it was easier dodging the Assassins than the Avengers because I’ve been training with them for months and already know their basic fighting style. What’s exhausting is hiding my identity from a group of people that are trained from a very young age to dig out secrets from the people around them. I mean, seriously, they probably would’ve figured it out a while ago if I didn’t have you two, Rebecca, and Shaun in my corner.”

“Heard you doing your Batman impression,” MJ quips. “It was a pretty good call, even if I did record it to hold over your head when you need to release some hot air.”

“Speaking of recording,” Ned pipes up. “Can I take a look at the suit now? I’d been thinking about what Mr. Stark put into it, and I’d love to check it out.”

“Shit,” MJ’s eyes widen, then she bolts off the bed and grabs Ned’s bag, throwing at the teen, panic in her eyes. “Peter, suit off. Ned, I need that suit cracked open ASAP.”

“What’s wrong?” Peter sits up suddenly, tapping the spider on his chest while he does.

He’s curious, but also cautious. When she’s like this, something is really wrong, and it’s best to question while following her orders.

“Recording, Peter. Why didn’t I consider it before? Your suit has a camera, mic, and a ton of tech that we haven’t even figured out. If that’s the case, Stark is probably hooked into all of it.”

Peter is now scrambling to get the baggy super suit off of his body, while Ned already has his laptop out of his bag. The vigilante almost throws the suit at his best friend. With his laptop now quickly plugged into the spider on the chest, Ned starts typing away at his normal lightning pace.

“I’ve got good news and bad news,” he says after five minutes. “Good news is that the firewalls on this thing are advanced but mainly focused on external or wireless hacking, so I’m into the suit’s programming right now.”

“And the bad news,” MJ sighs.

“There are a whole bunch of subroutines and features locked down by something called the Training Wheels Protocol.”

“I’ll applaud Stark on his humor later, but is there anything about a monitoring software?”

“Just found that one,” Ned confirms. Then, he snorts. “Get this, it’s called the Baby Monitor Protocol.”

“Okay,” Peter jumps off of his bed to look over Ned’s shoulder. “Now he’s just being demeaning.”

“Can you shut that one off?” MJ stands next to Peter.

“Give me a minute,” Ned keeps typing. “Do you want me to get rid of the rest of the Training Wheels Protocol, too.”

Peter says “Yes” at the same time Michelle declares “Not yet.” The webslinger frowns at his female friend.

“We need to check and see what all of these features are before we do anything too drastic,” she explains. “We’ll spend the next couple of days looking it all over, clearing out anything that’s an invasion of privacy and seeing what else there is in there.”

Peter reluctantly concedes to her logic. The names still bother him, though. I mean, seriously? Training Wheels and Baby Monitor? He might as well have put a pacifier in the mask.

MJ purses her lips, looking Peter up and down. “Now that the initial panic is over, you should probably get cleaned up. You’re all sweaty. We’ll be spending the night, especially after I tell Rebecca and Shaun about the Baby Monitor.”

***

“Dude, you’ve got an A.I.”

This causes Peter to sit up. “No way.”

“Way,” Ned turns his laptop around so that Peter can see.

“Wow,” MJ stares at the screen. “Stark really did go all out on this thing. I mean the web combinations I can understand, and the Advanced Reconnaissance is understandable; but seriously, why give an Instant Kill Mode to a fourteen-year-old, and now an actual A.I.?”

“Don’t hate,” Ned frowns. Looking back at his screen he sighs. “I’ll have to go over this in more detail later, but that’s the basics of it.”

“We can go over it a bit more in the next few days, then we can do some training at the junkyard this weekend,” she tells him. “Right now, though,” she points at Peter. “We skipped dinner, and you’ve got a super metabolism to maintain.”

“I had a churro,” Peter protests.

“Which isn’t even close to the number of calories you need,” the girl counters. “Now, to the kitchen so we can interrogate May about Stark’s bodyguard.”

***

It’s awkward, it’s embarrassing, it’s uncomfortable, and most importantly, his nose really itches.

“Ned!” Peter calls. “Could you come here, I need a bit of help.”

There’s a bit of clattering as his friend follows his voice. It takes a few minutes, and a few more calls for Ned to find him.

“Up here!”

Ned looks up at the shout and stops in his tracks. Then, he starts laughing.

His best friend is currently hanging upside down in a net of webbing, arms and legs spread awkwardly against a wall of junk.

“Dude,” Peter whines as he struggles against his webs. “Help me out.”

“Okay, okay,” Ned calms down. Then, he pulls out his phone and snaps a few pictures.

“Dude!”

“I’m sorry,” Ned smiles. “But this is gold. I mean, you haven’t gotten stuck in your webs since the first month. I can’t pass this up.”

“Can you get the solvent?” Peter grumbles.

“Yeah,” Ned chuckles, jogging back to where the supplies are kept. When he gets back with the container, he can’t help but laugh again. “I’m showing the pictures to MJ when she gets back.”

“No, you aren’t!” Peter squeaks.

“How did you get stuck there, anyways?” Ned climbs on some of the junk scattered around to get closer.

“Remember earlier when we were working on the trip webs?”

“Yeah.”

“We forgot about one of them.”

Peter’s glad he got ahold of the solvent before he said that, because Ned started shaking with laughter again. The webslinger managed to get one of his arms loose after five minutes. After that, the rest was pretty quick. He gets down and walks back to the center of the junkyard with only the occasional chuckle coming from his traitorous best friend.

On the weekend, this place is usually pretty deserted. Back before he got his powers, Peter and Ned would hunt through the junkyard for spare parts and other cool stuff. Now, it’s a sunny and metallic Halloween themed maze. Webs attach to the piles of junk, creating bridges, blocking paths, and having car frames hanging by only a few strands of the stuff. They’ve had to use the solvent on more than one occasion to clear pathways and get rid of hazards, which is why MJ left to go get more before they ran out completely.

“Hey,” Ned hits his shoulder lightly, looking down at his phone. “MJ’s wondering what you want to eat.”

“Can she get Delmar’s?” Peter replies. “I’m craving a good sandwich or three.”

“Delmar’s coming up,” Ned texts their friend back. He looks up from his phone. “What should we do until she gets here? I think we’ve finished up all of the web tests we can do here.”

“Can we have a look at the different modes in the suit, like Instant Kill and Enhanced Recon. If we can figure out their coding and how they’re set up, we might be able to modify them and maybe make our own,” Peter suggests.

“Like how?”

Peter’s eyes go a bit more intense. “When I get permission, I’m planning on attaching hidden blades to my web shooters.”

“What?” Ned gasps, eyes wide. “But Spider-man doesn’t kill.”

“Ned,” Peter sits down on the cooler they brought. “You and I both know that Spider-man will have to take a life at some point. Why else do you think Mr. Stark put an Instant Kill in my suit? I’d rather give my life than take one, but what if it’s not just my life at risk? What if it’s someone that I can’t arrest, like HYDRA, or an alien invasion, or a Templar? The Assassins don’t kill on a whim, especially not these days, but you know as well as I do, sometimes, you don’t have much of a choice in the matter.”

Ned takes a seat next to his best friend, patting him on his shoulder in comradery and maturity that comes from years of training together and understanding each other.

He sighs. “I get it. We can check out the suit together, and maybe get a few suggestions from MJ when she gets back.”  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments. Don't be mean.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's party time. Oh, and the Vulture makes an appearance, I guess.

Chapter 10

“For me it’d be ‘F’ Thor, marry Iron-man, and kill Hulk.”

“Well, what about the Spider-man?”

Peter and Ned both look up from where they are on the gym floor. They both look at each other while Liz defends Peter’s alternate identity to her group of friends.

“I would love him for the hero he is on the inside,” she tells her friends.

The vigilante in question gives his best friend the “Don’t do anything stupid” look. Ned’s got an excitedly smug expression, but he knows enough to know that secret identities are there for a reason. They finish the rest of PE with Peter holding back enough to be seen as average. MJ’s right, he doesn’t sweat at all during the exercises. He could probably do a real Captain America fitness challenge, and do it better than the man himself. At the end of the class, both of the boys get out of the locker room last, with Ned keeping his perky demeanor.

“Okay, now you have to ask her,” Ned declares.

“No, I don’t,” Peter argues back. “She likes Spider-man, not Peter Parker.”

“Dude,” his best friend gives him an exasperated look. “You are Spider-man.”

“Announce it to the world, why don’t you?”

“I made sure nobody’s around. Stop deflecting. This conversation is about how Liz said she likes Spider-man for who he is on the inside. That’s you. Which means that she’d like Peter Parker just fine if she got to know him. What better place to start that than at a dance?”

“What about a party?”

Ned and Peter jump at the voice. Turning around, they both relax at the sight of the last member of their trio.

“No wonder,” Peter mutters. “You hardly ever trigger my Spider Sense,” he looks at his friend. “What did you say about making sure nobody was around?”

“It’s MJ,” Ned tries to excuse himself. “You didn’t even notice her with your enhanced senses.”

“I was a little distracted by my friend trying to get me to commit social suicide,” the webslinger snips back.

“You need to work on that,” MJ starts walking their pace on Peter’s other side. “You can’t expect someone to only attack you while you’re in combat mode.”

“If they wanted to attack me, they would’ve triggered my Spider Sense,” Peter argues back.

“We still don’t know that much about that,” MJ counters. “We know even less about it than the Eagle Sense. You should always be prepared for a time when it doesn’t go off during a dangerous situation, or at those times you’ve had where you don’t know why it’s going off. Always be on guard.”

“Right,” the spider hero sighs. “I get it. I’ll work a little more on that.”

“Now that that’s out of the way,” Ned joins the conversation again. “What did you say about a party?”

“There’s one at Liz’s house tomorrow night,” she replies. “She’s going to invite the rest of the team when we meet today.”

“And you know about this, how?” Ned looks at her.

“We talk,” MJ shrugs. “And Flash volunteered himself to DJ.”

“Great,” Peter rolls his eyes. “As if I need any other reason not to go.”

“C’mon, Peter,” Ned almost begs. “We never get invited to these things, and Flash hasn’t been nearly as bad as he was last year. He even keeps his insults down during decathlon.”

“I think he’s just afraid of MJ and Liz,” Peter comments.

“And both of them will be there,” his friend smirks triumphantly. “And it’s at Liz’s house. He probably won’t do anything too dumb.”

“Emphasis on ‘too’ dumb,” MJ stresses.

“Fine,” Peter caves. “I’ll go, but I reserve the right to say I told you so if something happens.”

“Deal,” Ned preens with happiness. “I am so wearing my hat.”

***

“Ned, some hats wear men. You wear that hat.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Parker.”

“Thanks for the ride, May.”

“Thanks, Aunt May.”

“Remember, Peter,” May Parker looks at her nephew. “Just because you have that super metabolism, doesn’t mean it’s legal to drink before you’re twenty-one. So,” she winks. “Don’t get caught.”

“Yes, Aunt May,” Peter rolls his eyes.

“MJ,” the woman looks at the young girl. “Look out for two of them.”

“Always,” the girl smiles.

“Have fun,” May waves at the trio. “Love you, Peter.”

“Love you, too, May,” he replies.

The three Novices walk up to the house as the base pounds in Peter’s skull. The sound of the music and the yelling of the other party goers is a strain on his ears. As they open the door, he’s hit with the smell of sweat, food, soda, and of course, alcohol. Bright lights hit his eyes, causing him to squint until his enhancements can adjust to some degree. Flash is at the sound board

“Hey, guys,” Liz slides in front of them, huge smile on her face. “Nice hat, Ned.”

“Thanks,” Ned starts leaving the conversation. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go mingle.”

“I’m going to hit the snack bar,” MJ announces.

Ned, full of the confidence his hat provides him, hits the dance floor with the other students. MJ does her usual thing of slipping in between the different groups as she progresses towards the food. Peter looks back at Liz and gulps.

“Glad you could make it, Peter,” the senior girl smiles at him.

“Thanks,” he ducks his head a bit. “I’m really glad you invited the team.”

“Yeah,” she glances over at the dance floor. “Do you want to-.” There’s a crash in the back of the house. Both of them turn their heads in the direction of the sound, and Liz sighs. “Sorry. If something breaks, my parents will kill me. How about we talk a little bit later?”

“Yeah,” Peter nods a little too energetically. “I’d be fine with that.”

She smiles again before running off in the direction of the noise. Peter stares after her, wondering if what just happened was real or just a figment of his imagination. He snaps out of it when Ned runs up to him excitedly.

“Dude,” he breaths. “What just happened?”

“I don’t know,” Peter replies slowly. “But I feel like I just had round two with the Winter Soldier.”

“You have no idea how badass that statement sounds,” Ned grins. “But this basically proves it. You so need to ask her to homecoming.”

That snaps the webslinger out of his trance. “No. Ned, we talked about this.”

“And I still stand by my statement,” the computer boy declares. “She at least likes you a little, and she’ll say yes when you ask her.”

“You’re not going to drop this,” Peter looks at his best friend. “Are you?”

“Nope,” Ned pops.

“Fine,” the enhanced vigilante groans. “But I’m only going to do it after nationals, and only if she hasn’t been asked by anyone else.”

“Yes!”

Peter can’t help but smile at his friend’s antics. He might not like it sometimes, but he knows that Ned is only looking out for him.

“C’mon, dude,” Peter pulls on his friend’s arm. “Let’s see if we can find MJ.”

They start walking through the dance floor, when a voice sounds over the speakers.

“Hey, Parker! What’s wrong? Enjoy the first and last party you’ll ever be invited to?”

Of course, Eugene “Flash” Thompson can’t resist the perfect opportunity to try and embarrass his victim in front of a large crowd. Granted, only about half of the people on the dance floor actually laugh along with him. The rest are either indifferent, or they’re annoyed at the short pause in the music. Peter, now used to the insults, just keeps moving along towards a separate room where all of the food has been collected. He looks around, trying to find his other friend. It’s then that he focuses on the familiar curly hair walking out of the kitchen with toast and jelly.

“Nothing suit your tastes at the snack table?” Ned smirks as they approach the indifferent girl.

“Already had some,” she takes a small bite of her food. “Any of the desert is probably hit or miss on pot if it wasn’t prepared by Liz. All of the punch bowls reek of alcohol, and the dip for the chips and vegetable platters are probably half spit already.”

“I could smell the punch when we walked in,” Peter confirms. “I’ll probably hit the kitchen later tonight when I get hungry.”

With that, the three friends do what all relatively unpopular kids do at any social function, they stand around at the edge of the crowd and people watch. At about the half an hour mark, all of the sensory input from around him gets too much. He steps out to the backyard, and walks behind a tree. With an enhanced jump, he lands lightly on the roof of the house and sits on the edge near the skylight. The muffling of that the house provides lets him breathe a relaxed sigh. A few minutes later, there’s a rustling of branches and purposeful steps draw closer until they’re next to him.

“I was right,” MJ declares as she sits down next to him. “Eagle Sense is like a blacklight when it’s not focused on something specific. Hard pass on the bathroom until some heavy cleaning solution goes through it.”

“Okay,” Peter snorts. “Gross.” He sighs. “Everything started getting too loud.”

“Thought as much,” she looks down. “Looks like Liz is looking for someone.”

Sure enough, said host of the party is walking around. Anyone else would think it was just a casual stroll through the party, but even Peter can see the purposeful glances around as she searches.

“I think she’d say yes, if you asked her,” MJ tells him.

“Maybe,” Peter sighs again. “But what if she says no, or she says yes and realizes she doesn’t actually like me.”

“Then,” MJ stands up. “You’ll at least know. Instead of spending the rest of your life in a what if scenario.”

The wallcrawler stands up, too. Looking up at the view of the houses stretching out through the suburbs, and at the city beyond it, he steels his resolve.

“Thanks, Em,” he exhales. “I really- What was that?”

The girl looks back her friend, before following where his gaze is pointed.

“What?” her own eyes focus on the distance, scanning.

“There was a flash,” Peter replies. “And not the annoying teenager kind. There!”

He points, and sure enough, there’s a blue glow coming from below an overpass.

“Do you think it’s the weapons?”

“Maybe,” Peter frowns. “Doesn’t look like fireworks. Either way, I need to take a closer look.”

He starts to step away, but his wrist is grabbed. He looks back. He’s about to say something, when MJ holds something out to him.

“Tracking devices,” she tells him. “I know you didn’t bring your suit, so I figured if anything happened, you could just tag the criminals and find them later. I would recommend keeping your original web shooters on you from now on, even with the fancy new suit.”

“Em,” he smiles wide. “You are amazing.”

“Go,” she pushes him. “I’ll find an excuse to tell Liz if she asks about you.”

***

_Eyes on wpon deal. White van. No suit. Trckrs if needed._

Peter hits send on his message to Rebecca. He’s currently clinging to a concrete pillar, watching an exchange between a confident blonde weapons dealer and an exasperated African American buyer, waiting for reinforcements. There’s a buzz in his hand.

_Got it. Fifteen minutes out. Keep eyes on them. Do not engage._

He sends a confirmation to Rebecca’s text and looks back down as the dealer hooks his buyer with some cool sounding tech. The buyer is still really hesitant on buying the weapons. It takes a bit of haggling and bantering back and forth, but the buyer finally manages to get a normal side arm, along with a few more advanced pieces of tech. He starts typing.

_Deal dne. Who do I fllw?_

_Get pics of everyone. Put tracker on the van and the buyer’s vehicle when they start moving. Follow the van. Need to know where they get their weapons._

He takes pictures of the dealer, buyer, and the van’s driver before avoiding the mirrors to clip a tracker on the underside of the van. It’s easy enough to find the buyers car. It’s parked a decent distance away, but it’s also the only one around. He hooks it on before the buyer gets back and slinks back into the bushes to get back to the van.

_Trckrs in plce. Van mving._

He receives a confirmation from Rebecca as he free runs along the rooftops, following the weapon van. The vigilante would love to just web up the van and its passengers, but he doesn’t have his shooters or mask. Not only would the villains see his face, but the other Assassins would definitely connect the dots when they get there. Right now, he has to be just Novice Parker. This means he has to follow orders and gather information. No combat unless it’s necessary.

It doesn’t take long before something flies out of the darkness and hits the van’s tire. As it starts swerving back and forth on the road, two hooded Assassins jump out of the darkness. One lands on the back of the van while the other stabs into the top and swings onto the driver’s side. The one in the front punches through the window, opening the door in a smooth motion and throwing the driver out. They take his place and pull the van into a less smooth halt. The other Assassin forces the back doors open; weapon drawn. He goes flying back as Peter feels his ears pop from a shockwave. As the Assassin slams into the window of a car, Peter is rushing over from where he was previously waiting on the roof. He only takes a short look at Bret’s face before picking him carefully off of the car and carrying the man a good distance from the blaring of the car alarm.

“Bret,” Peter frowns, gently laying him on the ground. “You still with me, Brother?”

There’s a groan before the Assassin’s eyes sort of squint open. “Wah?”

“Got hit pretty hard,” Peter smiles.

“Pete?”

“Yep,” the boy pops.

There’s a crunch of gravel behind him, and he turns to see Master Drake kneeling right next to him.

“How is he?” She starts.

“‘He’s’ doing fine,” Bret grumbles a bit. “And ‘he’s’ ready to get back to it.”

“No,” Sarah Drake pushes him down gently as he tries to sit up. “Carter’s going to give you a quick medical checkup before taking you back to the transport where you will stay until the fight is over.”

She stands back up and waves Carter over before giving him his orders. The Assassin kneels down next to the injured one and starts carefully but quickly stripping Bret. Next to Peter, Master Drake slips one of the sheathes off of the downed Assassin’s belt. She holds it out to Peter.

“Disciple Parker,” she looks at him. “Keep your distance, but provide support if you see an opening.”

Peter gapes as he takes the offering, knowing the promotion in rank for what it was.

“Yes, Master Drake,” he takes a few deep breathes to steady his nerves.

As the man with the shockwave gauntlet keeps trying to keep the three full-fledged Assassins at a distance, Peter stays back behind the nearby cars watching everything with rapt attention. Then, the gauntlet giving them so much trouble just stops. It starts sparking as the he hits it a few times, but Assassin Duncan rushes in. With a shoulder slam, the blonde dealer is launched back into the van. It’s as the three Assassins begin converging on the van that Peter hears something. He looks up as the noise draws closer. His Spidey Sense blares.

“Get back!”

Trained to react to sudden situations, the trio dives back from the van at their younger member’s warning. As they do, they barely avoid a pair of giant talons that swoop down where they were just standing. They roll into a ready position, but there’s no follow-up from the giant winged creature. As it lands on the van, Peter sees that it’s a man in a giant wing suit, creepy mask covering his features. Without a word, he sinks his talons into the metal roof he’s on and fires up the thrusters on the wings.

As he lifts off, all four members realize that he’s about to get away with the weapons. At that, four throwing knives are sent at the man. The sudden acceleration, combined with the armor on the man, make it so that only two make their mark. The first, thrown by James, manages to sink into a gap in the shoulder. Still under the restriction not to kill without express permission, Peter’s wasn’t even aimed at the man, it hit one of the thrusters on a wing.

Despite the sudden drop in speed, it doesn’t slow the flyer enough to keep him within range of the knives, and James curses his lack of a bow. The sudden shift in balance does cause the van he’s holding to shake and loosen slightly from the talons. With this, various pieces of tech and other items begin to spill from the back of the van. Boxes hit the ground and shatter, while stray tech also starts scattering around the area. Master Drake pulls out her phone and curses.

“The tracker isn’t moving. It must’ve been knocked off,” she turns to her two companions. “We’re sweeping the area. Collect all available tech. I’ll join in the search as soon as I check on Bret.” She looks at Peter. “Excellent throw, Disciple Parker, and good thinking having the trackers on you.”

“Thanks,” Peter rubs the back of his neck, embarrassed. “But the trackers are actually MJ’s. We were at a party up the road when I saw lights from the weapons being tested.”

Master Drake smiles. “I know. I was testing your integrity. I was at least expecting you to wait a few days before admitting that. I believe your friend deserves at least the rank of Footpad for her preparedness and the abilities I’ve seen while we’ve trained.” Her smile grows warmer. “And Ned isn’t far from that with his own unique skill set. You’re dismissed, Disciple Parker. Go back to your party, we can handle the rest of this work.”

With a bit of skip in his step, he starts jogging back. He pulls out his phone, unlocking it, and calling one of his contacts. It picks up almost immediately.

“Hey, loser,” MJ answers smoothly. “Was getting nervous there. Everything fine?”

“Yeah,” Peter replies. “I’m heading back right now.”

“About that,” she starts. “You should probably hold off on that. I’ve been having Ned and I avoid her since you left, but the best excuse for your disappearance just started a few minutes ago. Listen in.”

Peter does, and what he hears causes him to sigh. It’s chanting.

“I say Penis! You say Parker! PENIS!”

“PARKER!”

“PENIS!”

“PARKER!”

“Turns out,” amusement can be heard in his friend’s voice as she pulls the phone back. “DJ Flash has had a bit too much punch and overheard Liz looking for a certain flakey teammate. He’s a bit jealous right now, and I can see Liz almost fuming. With that, the large mess that is currently her house, and a few other things she’s probably stressing about; the party’s probably over. I already texted your aunt to meet us at the end of the block.”

“So,” Peter groans. “Does this mean I’m going to be a social outcast at school tomorrow?”

“Oh, definitely,” she replies. “But only for about a week, and only to a relatively few people who actually remember and will hold you to what happened. I think most of Liz’s friends will be sympathetic, along with the girl herself. Some of the people won’t care about what happened here. I know quite a few people who’ll be pissed at Flash for causing the party to end. Ope, there it is.”

The background music halts suddenly, as Liz starts using her scarily serious captain’s voice to get everyone to leave. She’s having none of the boos and jeering from the crowd.

“I’ve got Ned,” MJ continues. “We’ll be there soon.”

“And you’re going to tell us what happened while we drive back,” Ned shouts into the phone.

Memory of what he was just in causes his smile to come back. He almost giggles into the phone. “You guys are going to love it.”

***

Peter is frowning as he magnifying lantern, hands steady as he takes apart one of the smaller weapons. Ned is next to him on his laptop, cataloging the various parts and looking into various databases for any information on what this mishmash of tech.

“This is part of those Ultron robots,” the Filipino boy says. “And this power source is palladium, so it’s probably old Stark tech.”

“The larger ones are run off of Chitauri energy cores,” Carter calls from his own desk.

Ned searches through his giant database of tech. “This says that those are supposed to be explosives.”

“They are, especially when exposed to certain types of radiation,” the Assassin replies. “Which is why I’m really impressed by whoever put these together. And why they’re all in their own little section of lead lined boxes.”

“I’m more impressed with how long these people have been around,” Peter adds to the conversation. “I mean, if they’ve got Chitauri tech, they’ve at least been stockpiling and stealing since the Battle of New York. Why haven’t they been caught yet?”

“Because there wasn’t legislation focused solely on their line of work,” Carter answers. “Sure, weapons deals have always been illegal, but most law enforcement would just as easily hit a regular dealer as an alien weapon dealer, especially if certain high profile and very influential persons are buying from that very same supplier. Now, with the Accords, some of those regular sources of income are hesitant to buy this piecemeal type of work and risk the wrath of a governmental body with something to prove. This causes the weapon supplier to have to lower their standards in order to maintain a profit, selling to street level thugs.”

The three of them look towards one of the entrances to the basement as they hear the door swing open. Master Drake walks down the steps, looking at the scene in front of her. She focuses on Carter.

“Anything?”

“Plenty,” he gives her an easy smile. “But nothing that we’re looking for. I think we’ve got to call it.”

She sighs. “I was afraid of that. The Council says that if we can’t find any indication of Precursor tech or Templar involvement, we’ll have to head out.”

“What?” Ned’s eyes widen. “But people are still in danger with these weapons out on the street.”

“That will be a job for you locals, and law enforcement. Besides, Spider-man should be able to pick up our slack,” she winks at Peter.

This time, Peter’s eyes widen. Ned starts sputtering.

“Oh, don’t act so surprised,” she brushes off their shock. “We’ve had our suspicions since we first met Spider-man, and we confirmed it after yesterday’s weapon deal.”

“How?” Peter asks.

“You dropped your change in voice close to the end of our fight during the ATM robbery,” Carter explains. “I confirmed my suspicions with Sarah after I recognized your silhouette and the similar way you hold yourself when you’re in fight mode.”

“I saw the similarities between your fighting style during the ATM incident and when we’re training,” Master Drake tells him. “And a few of the photos you took during the weapons deal could only be taken by someone repelling down or clinging against the wall, and you said you didn’t have anything other than the trackers on you at the time. So, sticky spider powers.”

Peter collapses back into his chair groaning. “I told you they’d figure it out.”

“I know, I know,” Ned grumbles.

“Well,” Carter shrugs. “We already know that the Council knows about your little masked escapades, so we’re fine with it.”

“And Carter and I are the only ones who’ve figured it out,” Master Drake points out. “We’ll also be here at least until the end of the week to wrap up our investigation, so we can help our spiderling get as much information to catch these guys.”

“Thanks,” Peter smiles at his two seniors.

“Now,” Master Drake steps out of the way of the stairs. “It’s late, and you have school tomorrow. And you,” she points at Carter. “I can tell you’re barely staying awake, so you get to bed, too.”

“Yes, Mom,” Carter snarks.

“If you were one of my kids,” she glares back. “I’d ground you and take away your dessert. Be that as it may, I’ll let Rebecca and Shaun know that you’re going on a grocery run tomorrow.”

He groans dramatically as the two teens giggle at his misery as they march up the stairs.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, Flash'll still be a bit of a jerk, and alcohol won't help.
> 
> I still don't get why Marvel, and by extension most of the geniuses in Marvel, didn't capitalize on the SHIELD dump more. It's an entire archive of classified government secrets. I would be geeking out over something like that, and I know a few people who would be working to organize the information to make it easier to sort through and access.
> 
> Kudos and Comments.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Relaxing and fun trip to DC. Of course, nothing ever goes as planned.

Chapter 11

“Peter. Cutting it a little close, aren’t we?”

“Sorry, Mr. Harrington,” the decathlon member mumbles as he’s the last one on the bus.

“Cat in a tree?” MJ sees the quickly healing cuts on his arms as Peter sits down next to Ned in the back of the bus.

“You should’ve seen the little girl, Em,” the hero whines. “She was almost in tears, and it was easy enough that I didn’t even have to be Spider-man.”

“I get it,” she pats his head mockingly. “You’re a good little hero. Guilt complex won’t let you pass stuff like that by. You didn’t bring your suit, did you?”

“Just my web shooters,” he tells her. “For emergencies.”

“Good,” she nods curtly. “It wouldn’t be good for a strictly New York based vigilante to be as far out as DC.”

Between the shows and games Ned has on his laptop and Liz’s flashcards, the bus ride goes by quickly. They all step off the bus and stare at the different monuments and historical buildings. With the long history of the Assassins, the trio is always fascinated by stuff like this.

“Alright,” Mr. Harrington steps off the bus. “Remember to stay in the buddy system. You all have your cellphones and the address for the hotel. Be careful on the Metro if you’re thinking about using it. Meet up is before five. Don’t be late.”

Ned and Peter split off to go explore the different museums around the Smithsonian. Michelle and Cindy compromise in checking out a few of the monuments and museums before heading over to allow Michelle to get in some protesting. Both of them at least have a minor interest in the other’s decision, so it isn’t that bad.

The boys see their teammates at only brief intervals during their adventure. They start quoting different things from Night at the Museum, and Ned asks a few times how Peter would take down some of the larger and more dangerous animals in the Natural History Museum. When they hit the more human based historical buildings, they start pointing out the different events and battles that they know had Assassin or Templar influence. It’s really cool, and Peter even starts to feel closer to some of his ancestors knowing the profound influence they had on history.

The two boys manage to jog to the meeting place a few minutes before five. Luckily, they’re only the second to last group to arrive. Surprisingly, it was Michelle and Cindy that get there last. Both of them got a little too excited while exercising their freedom of assembly and made it a few minutes after five. Cindy was actually really into it. It takes a while due to the long lines at the concierge, but the team checks in to their rooms at the hotel, and Ned and Peter relax on their beds.

“This is nice,” Peter sighs, content.

“I know what you mean,” Ned stretches out.

“It just feels like a forced vacation, coming all the way here. No missions. No patrols. No alien tech or flying vulture men. Just a nice hotel, touring the city, learning about the past, and doing our best to win nationals.”

There’s a knock at the door. Ned gets out of his bed to open it.

“Liz!” The nerd jumps a bit in surprise. “W-What are you doing here?”

Peter’s sitting up in his bed at the mention of her name. Sure enough, the good-looking senior is standing at their door, smiling.

“Shh,” she shushes Ned. “We’re going to go swimming.”

“Isn’t the pool closed this late?” Ned whispers back.

“‘A rebellious activity the day before the competition can help promote team unity,’” she no doubt quotes from one of her leadership books.

“Give us a few minutes to get changed,” Peter jumps up from his bed and unzips his bag.

It really does only take a few minutes before both of the boys are sneaking down to the pool with the rest of the students. Before they reach the fence that they need to jump, however, the two are stopped by a curly haired familiar face.

“I called Happy and emailed Stark,” MJ informs the two. “Told them about the alien weapon dealers and gave them the tracker data for that buyer the other day. I haven’t gotten a reply from our billionaire friend yet, but Hogan contacted the feds.”

“So that’s it?” Peter frowns. “We’re just handing it over to the government?”

“No,” she snorts. “Do you really think I’d trust them after they lost these weapons in the first place? My guardians and I just figured that with this whole Accords nonsense going on, we could play it safe and web up any vulture sized holes that could pop up in their investigation.”

“You’re a genius, MJ,” Ned compliments.

“Seriously, Em,” Peter smiles. “I’d probably be dead without you.”

“I’m sure you’d do fine,” she mumbles in very uncharacteristic bashfulness. “Now let’s get to the pool. I went through all this effort to put my swimsuit on, so I might as well use it.”

With that, each of them uses their rigorous training as members of the Assassin’s Brotherhood to hop the metal fence that separates them from the chlorinated pool and the rest of their teammates.

Ned and MJ strip off their shirts. Ned is unashamed of his body, with the encouragement from his friends and the knowledge that he could take down three quarters of the student body with the muscle hidden under his fat. MJ wears a two-piece for the simple reason that it’s easier to move around in, and most of the boys on the team are too afraid of her to actually say anything derogatory or objectifying about her good figure.

Peter, on the other hand, keeps his shirt on. Secret identity aside, he’s not comfortable with the stares he would probably get if people saw his abs. Another reason why he takes a seat a comfortable distance away from Liz and decides not to get into the water and get said shirt all wet and clingy.

“Not swimming?” She asks, seated on the edge, kicking her feet lightly.

“Not really feeling it right now,” he answers, trying to keep his heartbeat to a level that she can’t hear.

There are a few minutes where they just sit in silence, watching the rest of the team start a chicken fight, with Peter gathering up the courage to say something. He opens his mouth when he’s cut off.

“I’d been meaning to apologize,” Liz says.

Peter turns to look at her. The team captain’s biting her lip nervously. Peter finds it a little cute.

“About the party,” she continues. “With Flash, and the chanting. I’m sorry that happened. It’s my fault for letting him DJ, and not dumping out the punch after someone spiked it, and not being able to keep the whole thing in check, and I’m just really, really sorry.”

It takes Peter a moment to recover before he can answer. “No, no. It’s not your fault. None of that was. You couldn’t have known that would happen. I didn’t even expect that from Flash, and he’s been picking on me since middle school.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Liz looks into his eyes.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, but if it helps, I can just say that I forgive you, if you want it off of your conscience.”

Liz lets out a light laugh at his joke. “Okay, thanks,” there’s another pause. “Peter, do you-.”

“Hey, you kids! Get out of that pool!”

Peter looks up, internally cursing his Spider Sense for its uselessness, he spots an older man shouting at them from the upper floors.

“I’m calling the hotel manager!”

As the team bolts out of the pool, Peter thinks about how the man would’ve had better luck getting them in trouble if he called them in first. Now, however, he’s already made it to the fence and does a smooth roll over top of it. He turns around to help the rest of his teammates as they get there. He steadies Sally as she stumbles a bit on her landing and catches the towels and clothes of various other teammates as they throw them over before their climbs. Nobody says anything as he’s able to snag a few of them out of the air when he isn’t even looking, or at his uncharacteristically athletic display before that. They probably aren’t even aware of it in their excitement and panic.

Peter and Ned make it to their room safely, Ned panting slightly. They both look at each other before busting out laughing.

“That was awesome,” Ned breathes as he manages to recover.

“It was fun,” Peter stops laughing. He exhales, still smiling. “Liz apologized for what happened at the party, and we had a pretty good conversation going before we were interrupted.”

“Dude,” Ned throws his wet towel into the bathroom. “That’s great. I don’t know if you know, but she was looking for you during the party, and she flipped out when Flash started ripping on you. Even if she doesn’t actually like you like that, she’ll definitely say yes if you ask her to homecoming.”

“I guess,” Peter folds his unused towel up and puts it back in his bag. “But I’ll do it after all of this weapon dealer stuff is over.”

“Peter,” Ned sighs. “Do you remember what you promised May when she agreed to let you be Spider-man?”

“Always report my injuries to a responsible adult,” Peter tries, knowing exactly where his friend is going.

“What else?”

“Always make sure my homework is done before patrol.”

“Peter,” Ned frowns. “Dude. You know which one I’m talking about.”

Peter caves. “Don’t let your ‘wallcrawling shenanigans’ get in the way of your normal life.”

“And what are you doing now?”

“I get it. I get it,” Peter groans. “I’ll ask her after nationals, but only if you ask a girl first.”

“Dude!”

“Nope,” Peter smiles. “You’re pressuring me into asking someone. You get the same treatment. I ask when you ask.”

Ned groans as he walks into the bathroom to shower.

***

“Not going?”

“Nah, I’d rather not celebrate something built by slaves.”

Peter overhears the conversation as he walks into the Washington Monument. He smiles. MJ might play it off, but the truth is that she doesn’t like heights very much. If not, she would be coming up with us to tell everyone about various cruelties and trivia that would make the tour guide uncomfortable.

They slide their bags into the scanners. Peter’s takes a little more time because he’s got his camera. He’s been taking pictures of the monuments and members of the team. It’s a hobby that’s he’s been off and on with for as long as he can remember, and Liz even suggested giving some to the yearbook. He’s been relaxed this entire trip, which is exactly why he should’ve known something would happen.

The elevator goes up, and Peter feels a familiar tingle in his spine. He starts looking around urgently as the tour guide drones on about the history behind the monument. It doesn’t take long until he spots what’s causing his Spider Sense to go off.

“Charles,” Peter frowns. “What’s in your backpack?”

Everyone looks at Peter, before turning the backpack. He knows that there are some pretty cool bags out there, but the webslinger is pretty sure this one isn’t supposed to glow. Snatching it out of his teammate’s hands, the vigilante digs around in it before his eyes widen in shock.

“Fuck! It’s a Chitauri energy core!”

Ned’s probably the only one in the group that knows the extent of what Peter said, but everyone else reels away from the backpack at “Chitauri.”

“We need to-.”

He doesn’t get to finish. As his Spider Sense flares up, he drops to the ground, over the backpack with the core in it. There’s a shockwave that sends everyone in the elevator into the walls. Peter takes the hit the hardest, denting the doors behind him and sliding to the floor. As he focuses his blurred vision, he sees the rest of the team and their tour guide a little more disoriented. He stumbles to his feet as the elevator sways dangerously.

“We have to get out of here,” he mumbles.

Peter pries the dented doors apart, having to struggle a bit more due to the injuries he’s sustained and the pounding in his head. He groans, the doors groan, and the gap between the two offending metal objects slowly widens. As it does, two more pairs of hands slip into the gap between and help him out. He smiles at his best friend, quick to recover from the core’s impact. On his other side, Cindy Moon pulls with everything she’s got. More groaning from the three of them, and they force the doors open the entire way.

“Great,” Cindy pants. “More doors.”

Peter starts pulling again, feeling every bruise and injury flaring up and straining through his back and arms.

“C’mon,” he mumbles through gritted teeth. “Come on!”

There’s another creek, and he gets them open a crack, but these doors are definitely reinforced. Of course, this is the Washington Monument. Cindy and Ned are back to helping, but they’re both tired and unenhanced. He can barely feel their efforts. There’s more groaning from the door as Peter’s muscles strain. He can hear voices, but they’re drowned out as the doors slowly open again. The weight he’s putting on his arms suddenly leaves, and Ned catches him as he stumbles from the release of pressure.

“Take him first,” he hears Ned as his vision blurs again.

He feels a pressure under his arms, and he’s flying. The blurring starts to darken at the edges, and in the back of his mind, he realizes that he’s going unconscious. He struggles. There’re still people in danger. He needs to save his friends. More shouting, and he lets out a wet cough. More shouting, and he feels a hand on his. More shouting, and nothing but black.

***

He wakes up with a start, and the first thing that hits his senses is the smell of disinfectant, a lot of disinfectant. With a more familiar scent intermingled into it. He’s too disoriented to try to pin it down, though. The next is the beeping. He can hear it all around him. Some of it muffled and a distance away. Some, right next to him. He feels the bed next. Definitely not the one at his house, or the hotel, or the Assassin’s Den. The sheets are really uncomfortable against his skin, but it’s not as bad as his bed was right after the spider bite, before they had the sheets swapped out. He tries to pry his eyes open, but shuts them again at the bright light that floods through. He groans.

There’s a shuffling in the room, and the lights dim a bit. Then, one of the smells underneath the disinfectant washes over him. He’s very familiar with this one.

“Hey, May,” he croaks out, throat a little dry.

His eyes crack open again, and this time, the light is bearable.

“You are in so much trouble, young man,” she sobs, no heat in the threat. She hands him some water, and he takes a sip.

“Can we do this when I’m not injured?” he quips back.

“Peter Benjamin Parker, you jumped on a bomb,” she continues. “You’re lucky you’re not dead, superpowers or not. You are grounded, mister. Grounded.”

“For how long?” He groans.

“Until I feel like letting you go free,” she declares.

“But May,” he whines.

“Nope.”

“But-.”

“Nah.”

“C’mon.”

“Sorry,” she starts to smile. “I can’t hear you over me grounding you.”

“Did Ned teach you that?” Peter squints, suspicious.

“MJ did,” May keeps a small smirk. “Speaking of which, they would only let us in one at a time while you were unconscious, and you still have a few other visitors that want to give you a piece of their mind.”

With that, his aunt opens up the door and tells whoever’s out there that he’s awake. MJ slips in, and the looks on her face almost makes him wish he was unconscious again.

“The fuck were you thinking, Parker!?” She shouts. “Jumping on a fucking bomb!? Of all of the stupid, self-sacrificial, and just plain idiotic things you could have done…”

She goes on a rant for another five minutes, and he just lets her get it all out. Ned is standing behind her, with bandages peeking out of his shirt. There’s relief in his eyes. Happy Hogan is in the doorway, switching between looks of concern at Peter, fear towards MJ, and glaring out at the halls, as if daring someone to tell them to quiet down. By the end of the yelling, Peter can see tears welling up in her eyes. In a completely un-MJ-like display of affection, she grips his hospital gown through the sheets and buries her face in them.

“You’re on a very short list of people I care about in this world,” she mumbles into the sheets. “If you die, I will bring you back from the dead just to kill you again.”

“Got it, Em,” he chuckles.

“Don’t laugh,” she snips. “I’m angry at you.”

They stay like this for another few minutes before Peter breaks the silence.

“How’s everyone else?” He breathes.

“I knew you would ask about that,” his scary friend lifts her head up and scrubs at her eyes. They’re still a bit red. She fixes her hair so it’s out of her eyes before putting her usual passive face back on. “What do you want to know?”

“Is everyone okay?” Concern laces Peter’s voice. He looks at his other friend. “Are you okay, Ned? And don’t even think about lying, I can see the bandages.”

“I’m fine,” Ned assures. “A few bruised ribs, some damage to my back that the doctors said was just cursory, and a minor concussion. Apparently, my body type actually cushioned impact a bit. Plus, I was closer to the wall than most. No screens for the next few days, and no heavy physical activity for a few weeks.”

Peter nods, grateful. “And everyone else?”

“Cindy and Sally are benched from their sports and other physical extracurriculars for the next few months,” MJ reports. “Flash sprained his wrist, and he’s milking it for all it’s worth. Liz and the tour guide got a few cracked ribs from Charles slamming into them. Charles, due to being right next to the explosion, and farther away from the walls, is still unconscious and has the most intense injuries out of all of them but is expected to make a full recovery.”

“What’s going to happen to him?” Peter frowns.

“Don’t know,” she goes into analysis mode. “He brought an explosive into a national monument, so it won’t be good. The elevator itself took the quick way to the bottom of the shaft a little bit after everyone got out and our stuff got out, but all the footage was backed up. He’s a minor, and I doubt he did it on purpose. Since no one was killed, he should get off with a hefty fine, paying for the victims' medical and therapy bills, some counselling himself, and a lot of interrogations on where he got the energy core.”

“I’d like to know that, too,” Peter sighs.

“Ask him later,” MJ frowns. “For now, I promised to tell the rest of the team when you were awake. Get ready to be overwhelmed by concerned high schoolers and a teacher on the verge of a panic attack.” She looks over at Happy. “I expect you to update him on the security situation, because the idiot obviously forgot about the whole secret identity thing.”

With that, the girl marches out of the room, and the Stark Head of Security takes her place.

“Alright, kid,” he closes the door and pulls up a chair next to the one May has occupied. “First thing’s first, any and all displays of enhanced strength have instead been attributed to ‘hysterical strength.’ You know, that thing that lets desperate mom’s lift cars off of their kids and such. My reasoning for being here is as the newly appointed Asset Manager for Stark Industries. Advanced alien weaponry was used, so I was sent down. The three of you are also on the list of young talent that Stark Industries is looking at for an experimental high school internship program. We’ve given you and your buddy here private rooms, and all people involved in your recovery are on the Stark Industries payroll. The staff working with you know you’re enhanced, but nothing else, and breathing a word of it to anyone will result in enough law suits and flack that they wouldn’t be able to get a job as a school nurse.”

Peter blinks, a little surprised. Sure, he’s shocked that so much has gone into keeping his identity safe, but there is one other thing.

“What’s this about an internship?”

Happy sighs, and jabs a thumb back at Ned. “You know, your plucky friend back here focused on that, too.”

“Dude,” Ned finally breaks his silence and joins the conversation. “It’s so cool. I mean, I know we’ve already worked with Tony Stark, but this is an actual Stark Internship, in high school.”

“So,” Peter looks back and forth between Happy and Ned. “This is a real thing?”

“Yeah,” the Asset Manager nods. “We’re announcing that you, Ned, and your scary friend were already set for the internship, but we’ve decided to offer it to the rest of your team for winning nationals. People in the press will probably think of it as a pity move to due to this whole situation, and they’re not wrong.”

“You mean we’ll be going to the Tower?” Peter starts to get excited.

“No,” the man shuts them down. “Tower’s being sold. We’ve started moving everything to the Compound and another building Stark Industries owns in New York City. You and your little nerd friends will probably be going there for your internships unless Tony decides he wants the three of you at the Compound.”

“Why would he want us at the Compound?” Ned frowns.

Happy, with another exasperated sigh, responds. “Because he’s apparently taken a liking to your little spider trio. Obviously, he’s got this self-sacrificing scientific maniac over here,” he gestures at Peter. “But he also knows that you hacked his suit. He’s part impressed, part offended, and another part angry.”

“It was an invasion of privacy,” Peter protests.

“Not going to touch that argument,” Happy continues on. “Finally, the responsible one of your group scares him in a way I’ve only known a select few people to do. Obviously, the smartest thing he thought to do with that was to let her shadow one of the other people that can scare him like that.”

They go on talking about what’s going to be happening after they leave, which basically devolves into Ned and Peter fanboying about what they’ll be able to see. I mean, even though their cover for the airport fight was a “Stark Industries retreat”, they never got a chance to actually go into a Stark Industries lab before. This is going to be awesome. Then, there’s a knock at the door. Happy, ever the paranoid security guard, glares through the gap he makes in the blinds to see who’s at the door. He keeps the glare up as he opens the door to reveal a group of concerned teenagers and a few adults that are fussing over them.

“Peter!” The team tries to pile into the room, but Happy steps in front imposingly.

“One family at a time,” he declares. “He’s still recovering.”

That sobers them up, as they begin debating who goes first. It starts with Sally, with her parents. Her mom is a bit emotional in thanking him. His dad makes a joke about her being unable to play softball. He’s got a good-natured smile on his face, so Peter knows he isn’t blaming anyone, but Sally and her mom turn on him for the insensitive joke and lack of tact.

Cindy’s parents are a little more serious about the whole thing. They’re definitely happy about the Stark internship that she’s been offered. Peter can see a bit of relief on her mom’s face at the small mention of Cindy being benched in hockey. With the frown on the teenager’s face, he can tell that’s a bit of a sore subject. They’re still very happy that she’s safe and thank him profusely for protecting her. Peter, with his inability to keep his nose out of other people’s business, thanks Cindy for helping him with the doors of the elevator. He also makes a comment about how all of the training for sports must have helped her upper body strength and recovery from the shockwave. They leave with the mom frowning, Cindy with a small smile, and the dad playing the middle man for both of them.

The rest of it goes by fairly quickly. Abe thanks him, his parents do the same. They ask what he’d like for a gift basket. After attempting to refuse a couple of times, Peter caves and suggests food.

Flash comes in with an older man that bears no resemblance to him, gives him a quick and grudging thanks before booking it out of there. Finally, Liz walks in. Two people follow behind her, and Peter’s Spider Sense flares.

It catches Peter off guard enough to make him shiver, but he’s been told time and time again by the Assassins to trust his senses, so he takes stock of the three people in front of him. Liz has never set off his senses, even if he’s always stumbling over his words and embarrassing himself around her. The problem with the two parents is that they’re so close together that he couldn’t actually narrow it down enough between the two of them. He knows it’s one of them that’s setting him off, maybe it’s both, but his senses only focus that much when there’s immediate danger. Which is good, in a way. May’s sitting next to him, and Happy is by the door, so he doubts anything will go wrong.

“Hey, Peter,” Liz snaps him out of his panicking thoughts. “I just wanted to come by and see how you were doing.”

“I-I’m fine,” he gives her a nervous smile. “Just glad to see you’re okay.”

“It’s thanks to you,” she smiles. “Oh, right. These are my parents.”

“Doris,” her mom takes a step towards him, warm and grateful smile on her face, and shakes his hand. “Thank you for protecting our daughter.”

“Adrian,” the dad steps up with his wife and gently sets his hand on Peter’s shoulder.

He jolts at the touch, and both of the adults take their hands back. At least he knows which parent it is now.

“S-Sorry,” he stammers out a bit. “Still a bit sensitive.”

“It’s fine, kid,” the dad smiles. “We’re all just happy you’re alright.”

“We should let him get some rest,” Liz’s mom says, concerned. “He’s had a rough day. C’mon, Liz, you can talk to him later.”

She seems hesitant, but Liz follows her parents out. Peter keeps listening as they leave and walk down the hallway, but they don’t say anything. At least, not until even he can’t hear it. Still, Peter visibly relaxes.

“Happy,” Peter speaks to the Head of Security. “Could you look into Liz’s dad for me?”

The man frowns. “Kid, I’m not going to do a background check on a guy just to help you get with his daughter.”

Peter sputters. “That’s not why I want you to check him. I just feel like something’s wrong with him is all.”

“Is it your Peter Tingle?” May butts into the conversation.

“Peter Tingle?” Happy turns to look at her.

“We all agreed never to call it that again,” Peter frowns at his aunt.

“No, you and Ned agreed,” she points out. “I had my fingers crossed, and I have it on good authority that MJ did, too.”

“Back up, back up,” Happy closes the door. “What’s this about a Tingle?”

“We call it my Spider Sense,” Peter insists. “It’s kind of like an early warning system for me. Tells me when something, or someone, dangerous is nearby. Helps out when patrolling.”

“It’s how you found the bomb,” Happy guesses. Peter nods, and the man sighs. “And you’re sure it’s not just because he’s a dad with his daughter being in the same room as a boy who might have a crush on her?”

“If that were the case,” May points out. “The way Cindy’s mom was glaring at him for the hockey comment would’ve caused him to go haywire.”

“Right,” the heavy-set boxer acknowledges while Peter looks back and forth in confusion. “So, you think this guy is dangerous?”

“I don’t know,” the webslinger groans. “But something about him set off my senses, and I’d like to at least know if anything comes from it.”

The Asset Manager of Stark Industries glances back and forth between two sets of pleading eyes before grumbling. “I’ll see what I can find out, or rather, what Tony and his A.I. might be able to find out.”

***

The enhanced human wakes up hungry. Out the window, he sees the towering buildings that he calls home looming in the distance. He rolls his shoulders as he straightens in his seat. The bandages restrict his movements a bit, but they, the casts, and the crutch are only for show. He looks over to see Ned and MJ still conked out in their seats.

“Glad to see you’re awake,” May smiles from the driver’s seat. “Do you want something to eat?”

“Always,” Peter confirms with a grin.

“We’ll stop by Delmar’s and get sandwiches for everyone. Something to destress after all of this.”

MJ jolts awake a few minutes later at the honk of a horn from an irate driver. Ned’s always been a pretty deep sleeper, especially after stressful situations. By the time they get to Delmar’s, he’s awake enough to smell his freshly heated meatball sub as May and Peter get back in the car. Apparently, the decathlon team made the news. May, MJ, and Ned’s sandwiches were on the house, and one of Peter’s three was as well.

“Mr. Delmar’s really a great guy,” Ned gets out while chewing.

“And his sandwiches taste great,” Peter agrees, already digging into his second.

“Ned,” May calls to the back seat. “We’re dropping you off first. Be prepared, your mom is waiting out front with a hug and a lecture.”

The boy groans, and Peter carefully pats him on the back with the hand in the cast.

“It wasn’t even my fault,” Ned complains.

“And you can tell her that,” May counters. “But she’s worried, like a mom should be. Let her vent, and then tell her what happened.”

They drop him off, and his mom is standing there in all her intimidating motherly glory. She gives him a light hug, being careful of the bandages, and grabs his bags from the trunk of the car. She has a quick chat with May, before ushering her son up the steps to their apartment. Ned waves back at Peter, nervous, before he disappears from sight.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'd think that the students would be more injured by a concussive force than they were in the movie. Hence, the hospital. Given all of that, your parents that care wouldn't just wait around being uninformed while your kid is being treated.
> 
> Adrian Toomes was already in the area. You know, for the robbery that Peter didn't know about in this fic. Obviously, he still cares about his daughter, and his wife would rush down as well.
> 
> Ned's already informed enough in this fic to not have a dangerous alien weapon in his bag, and Flash drives a car, so I don't think he'd walk to and from a party like a few other fics I've read have shown. Still, I had to get the core in there somehow. Sorry Charles, you're the scapegoat for this chapter.
> 
> I couldn't resist the Peter Tingle bit. It was too good an opportunity to pass up.
> 
> I really do appreciate all of the comments you all post, even if I don't reply to them. It brightens my day when I read them, so let me know your thoughts on any part of the story.
> 
> Comment and Kudos. Don't be mean.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're goin on a boat. With a little more intel than just the knowledge a cool former felon with an awesome nephew.

Chapter 12

“Hey, Peter. Got something you might be interested in.”

The wallcrawling crusader finishes filling one of his web cartridges and walks over to Rebecca. “What’s up?”

“Well,” she starts. “I entered the guys from the weapons deal into our database. The buyer’s already been arrested, but we picked up one of the sellers on the cameras we have set up around the city. He’s in line for one of the ferry services.”

“Maybe I should go see how his business is doing.”

“Hold your thorax, bug-boy,” Rebecca stops him as he gets his suit. “If you’d let me finish, there are also a few other people of interest in that line. Namely, a few feds.”

“If they’ve already got a handle on it, why did you even bring this up?” Peter pouts.

“I want Spider-man to go over and ensure the arrest goes off without any casualties,” Rebecca orders. “Despite the warnings about the dealers likely being armed with dangerous alien technology, the FBI is woefully unprepared.”

“On it,” he shrinks the suit to his body. “I can test out the AI.”

“MJ’s out with Shaun, and Ned is at Robotics club,” Rebecca says. “So, I’ll be in your ear today.”

He slips the mask on and webs his way out the window.

***

“Remember, Peter. You’re there as backup only. Do not engage unless the agents or civilians are in danger.”

“What if they’re about to get away?” The boy slings onto the ferry as it takes off.

“Then you tail them back to their base,” Rebecca explains through the earpiece. “This is the FBI’s sting. You’re just here to keep anyone from dying due to their unpreparedness.”

“Got it,” Peter sighs. “Karen, send out Droney. Scan for the man we’re looking for.”

“Right away, Peter,” the soft, slightly robotic voice sounds in his ear.

It doesn’t take long to find him. Peter takes a seat on top of the ferry, observing through his little flying friend. He listens in on their conversation.

“Karen, find the white van.”

The vigilante keeps an eye on his guy and the person he was talking to while the drone flies around on the lower deck. As Karen zeros in on the van, the two men make their way down below.

“Looks like the deal’s going down, Pete,” Rebecca observes. “Keep out of sight. We don’t want to spook the dealers, and your suit isn’t that inconspicuous.”

He peeks his head over the side of the ferry, watching as the two of them pause and talk for a few minutes before walking out of sight. They head underneath, and Peter guides the drone to follow them from behind the cover of the other cars on the parking deck. As they approach the van, Peter sees the FBI agents moving in as well. This causes him to start crawling down the side of the ferry to prepare for when shit hits the fan. It doesn’t take long.

“FBI!” One of the feds shouts as both of them point their weapons at the dealers. “Hands where we can see them!” The dealers comply. “Now, turn around slowly.” As they do, the one talking nods at his partner.

As the partner creeps up to the van, no doubt going to check for anyone inside, Peter makes it within webbing distance of the group. As the agent reaches for the door to the van, the spiderling shoots a web at the man’s back, yanking him away as the Spider Sense rings in the back of Peter’s head. He fires another shot at the second agent, pulling him just as the van bursts apart.

Black, metallic wings and talons tear apart the vehicle as the Vulture reveals their masked face. In his hands is a large two-handed blaster of some sort. The glowing barrel doesn’t endear the thing to the vigilante. He’s about to web the thing up, when he has to dive out of the way of a shockwave coming from the right of the winged man. The guy who he was tracking has the weapon that him and the other Assassins faced the first time they encountered the Vulture. The buyers for the tech draw their own weapons, thankfully regular, weapons. The FBI agents, with their own training finally kicking in, find cover behind the cars. It won’t do them much good against the alien tech.

“Spider-man,” he hears Rebecca in his ear. “I’ve alerted the local authorities, and MJ has called Happy. Get the feds to evacuate the civilians. Try to do what you did during the airport fight. Ground the flyer and keep the fight contained.”

“Hey! I’ll draw their fire!” The webslinger calls to the agents as he dodges not only a shockwave, but bullets and a sudden beam of energy. “Get to the top deck, and evacuate the passengers!”

He makes sure they hear him, but he doesn’t wait for a response before slinging himself towards the Vulture, double kicking them in the chest and webbing the gun out of their hands. There’s no time to follow up on his attack, however, because a burst of compressed air and sound causes him to jump up onto the ceiling to avoid it. A split second later, another enhanced jump is needed as bullets ricochet off of where he was just perched.

“Web grenade,” he tells Karen before firing the compacted sphere towards two of the guys wielding guns.

“Impact webs,” he turns, flipping off of the wall and fires another shot at the gauntlet user, slamming his arm against the wall and sticking it there.

He manages to land, but has to dodge again as the Vulture comes careening at him. One of the talons manages to grab the spiderling’s leg and carry him out of the ferry. They start rising up in altitude. Peter looks down and sees the evacuating civilians getting smaller and smaller. He looks up at the Vulture.

“Taser webs!” He manages to grip onto the guys leg and steady himself enough to fire a web at one of the wings with his other hand. The electricity courses through the line and causes sparks as soon as it hits the wing. The mechanics in the wing spasm, and the thrusters sputter off for a moment before shooting to full power. It causes the pair of the them to spin around. The Vulture manages to steady himself again and looks down at the arachnid in his grasp. Another spasm from the malfunctioning wingsuit, and the talon loosens enough for Peter to swing his leg out and deliver a kick to the villain’s face, knocking off the mask. What he sees makes him pause enough to let the man deliver his own kick that sends the spider-human falling from the sky.

“Peter!” Rebecca shouts in his ear as the wallcrawler recovers from his shock.

Using his training, Peter rights himself in the air, turning around and spreading out the squirrel suit wings underneath his arms and keeping himself steady as he circles around the ferry in his decent. When he gets close enough, he deploys the parachute to slow himself down for the landing on the bottom deck. He isn’t very practiced in this part, so detaching the parachute takes a little bit longer. Looking back up, the Vulture is making an unsteady getaway across the river.

“Uh, Rebecca,” Spider-man talks into his earpiece. “I got a good look at the Vulture.”

“I know,” she responds. “And I’m running him through our database.”

“Don’t bother. I know who he is, and I’m not happy about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter's used to falling from skyscrapers, and Assassins regularly jump off buildings. He's gotta have a good amount of training for righting himself in a fall. As long as he can control the opening of the parachute, and it doesn't stupidly tangle him up.
> 
> Comment and Kudos. Don't be mean.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter of this part of the series. Just wraps a few things up.

Chapter 13

“Hey, Liz.”

They’re both standing there, looking at the national’s trophy in the display case. Liz glances around at all of the advertisements and banners for homecoming that she helped set up. She has a sad look in her eyes, knowing that she won’t be here for it.

“I heard you’re moving,” Peter frowns as they meet each other’s gazes.

“Yeah, Oregon,” she responds. “Mom doesn’t want to be around for the trial.”

“It sucks,” Peter sighs. “The whole thing with your dad.”

“I’m still processing it,” the senior tells him. “It almost feels like some dream that I’m going to wake up from,” she takes another looks around and exhales. “I was really looking forward to homecoming, too. Watching everyone enjoy all of the decorations and planning that went into it. The music, the dancing.

“You know,” Peter chuckles awkwardly. “I-I was actually planning on asking you to go with me. I mean, I’ve thought you were really great for a while now.”

“I know,” she smirks. “You’re not that great at keeping secrets. I was going to say yes, too. When you finally did ask.”

“Do you think we’ll be able to keep in touch?” Peter asks hopefully.

“Maybe,” her smirk turns into an amused smile. “We can text. You and the rest of the team have my number, but I kind of agree with my mom about a few things. I want to get away from all of this. Clear my mind and set my path, and I hear Oregon is a great place to do that.”

He’s not dense enough to hear the rejection in her comment. It causes him to deflate a bit. He looks back up at his crush and her smile. She leans forward quickly, his Spider Sense doing nothing to warn him or prepare him, and gives him a quick peck on the cheek.

“Be good for your new captain,” the senior girl tells him before walking out of the school.

For the next few minutes, he’s just standing there gaping, Liz’s perfume still lingering in his enhanced smell and the ghost of her lips still tingling on his cheek.

***

“With Liz leaving, we have to assign the new captain. Luckily, her and I had already discussed her replacement for when she graduated. She also spoke with this person personally, and I was told that she accepted the assignment. So, Michelle, congratulations are in order.”

The whole team applauds. Not too loud. It may be empty, but they’re still sitting in the library. Ned and Peter are beaming at their friend. Most everyone else is grinning and seem to agree about the decision. Flash seems to support it, as well, if only grudgingly.

“Any words of encouragement, Ms. Jones?”

“Not really,” she shrugs, writing in her notebook. “Just be prepared to work hard after homecoming.”

Peter, curious, peeks over her shoulder and sees what she’s working on. It’s a practice schedule for each individual member of the team. Looks like it continues to the previous pages, too. His smile widens.

“Well,” Mr. Harrington scratches the back of his neck. “I guess we should get on with this,” he reaches into his bag. “Like Michelle said, we’re not actually starting practice up again until a little after homecoming. At that time, we’ll also have to coordinate our practices with the new internship that you’ve all been given.”

A buzzing in his pocket has Peter pulling out his phone. He looks down. It’s Happy.

_Outside. Bring your two friends. Going upstate. Already talked to May._

“Speaking of the internship,” he glances back and forth between Ned and MJ. “We kind of have to head out. Just got a text saying that our ride is here.”

His friends both stand up. Ned is grinning ear to ear, while Michelle keeps her passive face as they both sling their bags over their shoulders.

“Wait,” Mr. Harrington flounders around in his own bag. “I have to give you some paperwork about the internship."

“We got it already,” MJ calls back as they continue walking out of the library.

“Oh,” he frowns, urgency in his searching going down as he looks up helplessly at their exit.

“See yah later, Mr. Harrington,” Peter waves at the teacher with his uncasted hand before walking out the doorway and down the hall.

“Yeah, bye,” Ned follows close behind.

MJ doesn’t even look back as she raises her hand in farewell.

The three of them exit the school and see a black car with tinted windows parked. A familiar heavy set, suit wearing bodyguard tapping his foot and checking his watch impatiently as he waits for them.

“About time,” Happy Hogan frowns. “Get in, girl up front, we’re going upstate.”

Ned and Peter slide into the back, while MJ takes shotgun.

“So, Harold,” Michelle begins. “What’s up? You haven’t chauffeured us since our little overseas field trip.”

“He missed us,” Ned grins, buzzing in the back seat.

“Not in the slightest,” the driver denies. “Boss just got back the other day. Wanted the Spiderling up at the Compound. You two stragglers are coming with him because you’re basically joined at the hip and he could use a ‘different type of annoying’ than what he’s been getting these past few months.”

The few hours it takes to get to the Avenger’s Compound- Ned and Peter fanboy a bit at that- is spent in conversation and passing around homework for fact checking and editing. Their driver isn’t as frustrated as he usually looks, but he still doesn’t like how he can’t roll up the partition due to MJ being a part of the paper handoff.

***

“Stark.”

“Jones.”

The two address each other with a professional curtesy before the man turns to the two boys gaping next to her.

He puts his smile back on, and spreads his arms out. “Welcome to the Compound. C’mon, we have things to do and people to see.”

The three follow him, their heads moving around to take in everything. They continue on to an elevator, waiting a few moments for Happy to catch up from parking the car.

“So,” Tony begins. “I’ve been told that I need to give you a brief rundown on what you’ll be doing during the internship. You two nerds,” he points at Peter and Ned. “Will be working with me up here at least every other week. What we do depends on the day and my mood. It won’t be much until the rest of my lab is moved here from the Tower. The rest of the times when you’re not up here, you’ll be at the labs in the city with all of the other interns and workers. There’s only one exception, and that is when the Spiderling here is going to be up here training.”

“Training?” Peter blinks at the Avenger.

The elevator dings, and the group steps out. Stark keeps talking.

“I’ve been told by some people that if I’m going to give you a suit, I need to teach you how to use it. I’ll also be doing updates when the need arises, so you’ll need to get used to those.”

“As long as there’s no more tracking,” MJ cuts in. “Or monitoring. I’d rather not have our every move watched like we’re criminals.”

“It is my tech,” he points out. “I like to know where it is and what you’re doing with it.” He meets the girl’s eyes for a few moments. “Fine, we’ll talk specifics later, and I’ll keep out of the suit until then, happy?”

“For now,” she concedes.

“With that out of the way, we have to discuss your internship, my perpetually angry pen pal,” he opens up a door and steps through. “And who better than the one you’ll be shadowing for half of it.”

Inside of the room is a long table, with chairs around it, a board room. All of the chairs are empty, but at the other end of the table is a small stack of papers. Standing behind those papers is-

“Pepper Potts,” both boys gasp at the same time.

“Hello,” the CEO of Stark Industries smiles at the group. “You must be Peter, Ned, and Michelle, correct?” She looks at MJ. “You’ll be assisting me while I’m in New York. It’ll be nice having a personal assistant, I probably won’t be as difficult to work for as Tony was for me. Plus, from what I’ve heard about you, I think we’ll get along just fine.”

“Welp,” Mr. Stark pops. “Boys, let’s leave the ladies to their conversation. We have science to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all. This fic was originally supposed to be the prequel to another one. It's partially why there was a lot more Marvel and a little less Assassin and Templar conflict. However, with this story already having a base for me to work with, it just came easier to me than the other one. I'll still be working on the sequel, and I've also got a doc that has short snippets of what happens in between the two. It's also where I'm going to be putting different tropes I enjoy writing for this universe.
> 
> I really appreciate all of the support I've gotten from everyone, and I will be posting more soon in this series. Feel free to check out the other short fics on my account.
> 
> Comment and Kudos. Don't be mean.


	14. Announcement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not an update. Sorry. Just announcing something.

I've started posting my little short pieces of the time in between the Assassin Spider and the other fic that I will eventually be able to figure out what to do with.

Have fun with it!


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